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A TREATISE 




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IN THE VICINITY OF CINCINNATI. 



BY A MEMBER 
OF THE CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



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A TREATISE 



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IN YINEYARDS. 



BY A MEMBER 

OF THE CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



CINCINNATI : 

WRIGHT, FERRIS, & CO. PRINTERS. 



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TO THE 

CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The cultivation of the Grape in vineyards, for making wine, is now so 
important a branch of horticulture, in the valley of the Ohio, and especially 
in this vicinity, that a brief treatise on the subject may perhaps be considered 
useful. 

The one now presented, has been compiled from several valuable articles 
on grape culture, published within the last ten years, in horticultural period- 
icals, by able writers and practical men — members of your Society ; Mr. 
LoNGWORTH, Dr. MosHER, Dr. Flagg, a. H. Ernst, J. E. Mottier, C. W. 
Elliott, Wm. Eesor, John Sayers. T. Affleck, and others — the greatest 
number being from the pen of Mr. Longworth; also, from Mr. Schumann's 
pamphlet, published in 1845, and a book on the same subject, by John James 
DuFOUR, of Vevay, la., 1826; aided by the observations and practical expe- 
rience of the writer. 

After all that has been done, and written, grape culture and wine-making 
in this country, is as yet but imperfectly understood, and it is only by experi- 
ence and a free interchange of opinions, that we shall arrive at a better 
knowledge of it hereafter. 

Our climate, and the native grapes we cultivate, differ so much from those 
of Europe, that the intelligent vine-dresser from the old world, finds he has 
much to learn in the new, and, that a wide field is presented for observation, 
in which all must here ivork and think for themselves. 

At the time Mr. Dufour wrote, in 1826, the Cape Grape was then the 
only kind cultivated in the Ohio Valley, for wine. About that time the 
Catawba was brought into notice as a wine grape, by Major Adlum, at 
Georgetown, D. C, and by Mr. Longworth, in the West; and it is now so 
great a favorite as to be almost the only variety planted. To these gentlemen 
as public benefactors, the country owes a lasting debt of gratitude for intro- 
ducing into vineyard culture, this noble grape. 

Many improvements in grape culture, and in wine making, have been made 
since Mr. Dufour's day — even since the publication of Mr. Schumann's pamph- 
let in 1845, only five years ago, practical cultiA^ators have, in some particulars, 
adopted other modes than those then recommended; and it is confidently 
expected, that within the next five years, still greater improvements will 
he discovered. The business is yet in its infancy, and will require long and 
careful nursing, to enable it to reach maturity. 



VI PREFACE. 



Considering the growth and importance of this branch of Horticulture, it 
would be improper to close these prefatory remarks, without a passing tribute 
to the merits of the worthy pioneers in this enterprise — the Swiss settlers of Ve- 
vay, and the German vine-dressers of our own county — who, under all the dis- 
advantages of a climate, soil, and vines unknown to them — persevered in their 
efforts, with patient industry, until the present favorable results have been pro- 
duced. But to Mr. LoNGwoETH, more than to any other man in the West, we 
are most indebted for our knowledge in grape culture. Mr. L. has. within the 
last twenty-seven years, with unwearied zeal and a liberal expenditure of money, 
in numerous experiments with foreign and native grapes, succeeded in enabling 
himself and others, to present to the public, a •' Sparkling Catawba," rivalling 
the best French Champagne, and a dry wine from the same grape, that compares 
favorably with the celebrated Hock wine of the Rhine. 

Several varieties of wine have been produced from other grapes than the Ca- 
tawba, but Avith the exceptions of that made from the Cape — which is a red 
wine resembling Claret — it will require time to ascertain their value. 

From the Isabella, Ohio, Missouri, Norton's Seedling, Minor's Seedling, Le- 
noir, and Herbemont's Madeira, wines have been made of more or less promise — 
samples of which may be found at the cellars of Mr. Longworth, and some 
others. 

The views here given are those of many of our most intelligent vine-dressers. 
A difference in opinion may exist with others on some points, which time and 
experience alone can reconcile. 

Cincinnati, Feb. 18th, 1850. R. BUCHANAN. 

N. B. A valuable addition to the appendix will be found in an able article 
from the pen of Mr. Longworth, on the Cultivation of the Strawberry. This 
branch of Horticulture is better understood, and carried on more extensively in 
this vicinity, than in any other part of the United States — thanks to the discrimi- 
nation of our cultivators, who early discovered ihe advantages of planting with 
reference to the sexual organs. R. B. 



CONTENTS. 



THE VINEYARD. 

Position and Soil -- - -- -- --•-9 

Preparing the ground ..- -- - - --9 

Planting . - - 10 

Treatment of the Young Vineyard - - 10 

Spring Pruning ...-------11 

Summer ditto - - - 12 

Culture -..---- 12 

Diseases, Insects, and Frosts ... -.---13 

Varieties of Grapes cultivated - - - . - - - -16 

Durability of Vineyards, &c. - - - - - --18 

To restore Premature Decay in a Vineyard - - - - - 18 

MAKING WINE. 

The Wine Press - - - - - - - - 19 

Gathering and Pressing the Grapes - . - - - 19 

Fermentation - - - - - - - -20 

Character of the Wine -- - - - - -21 

STATISTICS. 

Cost of Establishing a Vineyard - - - • - - 28 

" " Attending a Vineyard - - - - - - 31 

'• " Making the Wine - - - - - - 32 

Probable Product per acre - - - - - - 32 

Sale of the Wine - - - - - - - 33 

Number of Acres in Cultivation in this Vicinity- - - - 35 

" " Bearing - - - - - - 36 

Average Product to the Acre 



36 



Analysis of Soils - ^6 



APPENDIX, 

Letter on Fermentation, by N. Longv^rorth ----- 38 

'< "Rot " " ------ 39 

" " Native Grapes " " ------ 41 

" " Manufacture of Wine " - - - - - - 43 

" " Apparatus for Mashing Grapes, by Mr. Corneau - - - 44 

Mr. Williamson's Method of Fermenting the Grape on the Skins - - 45 

Mr. LongvForth's Letter on the Vineyards about Cincinnati - - 45 

Mr. Gibson's Letter on the Vineyards in Clark Co. la. - - - 46 

Mr. Long-worth's Letter on the Strawberry 48 



CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



THE VINEYARD. 

In establishing a vineyard, it is a matter of much importance to 
select the rio^ht 

POSITION AND SOIL. 

A hill side with a southern aspect is preferred, although an 
eastern or western exposure is nearly as good. Some have recom- 
mended the north, on account of safety from late spring frosts, but 
it will scarcely afford sun enough to ripen the grapes in cold wet 
seasons, (if the declivity is steep,) and may perhaps be more subject 
to "the rot." 

Any undulating surface if dry, is preferable to a level one. 

The soil best suited for a vineyard, is a dry calcareous loam — with 
a porous subsoil — not retentive of moisture; if mixed with some 
gravel or small stones, so much the better. Some prefer a sandy 
soil with a gravelly sub-stratum; as in this the grapes are less subject 
to rot ; the juice however is not so rich, — lacking in saccharine 
matter, — and in dry seasons the vines will suffer from the drought, 
shedding their leaves prematurely, and preventing the grapes from 
ripening well. In warm, sandy, and gravelly soils, the fruit buds 
on the vines are sometimes killed by the frosts of a severe winter. 

Any soil underlaid by a stiff" wet clay, is to be avoided, as also 
wet or spongy lands. No trees should be allowed to grow within 
one hundred feet of the vineyard. 

PREPARING THE GROUND. 

In autumn or early winter, dig or trench the ground all over, 2 
to 2^ feet deep, with the spade — this is far better than ploughing 
— turn the top soil under; the surface will be mellowed by the frosts 
of winter. 

Wet spots in the vineyard may be drained by small stone culverts, 
or by what is termed a French drain, a ditch, with some loose 
stones thrown into it edgewise, covered with flat ones, and filled up 
with the earth again. Surface draining may be obtained by concave 
sodded avenues of 10 feet wide, and intersecting each other at 
100 or 120 feet, thus throwing the vineyard into squares of that 
size. This will do for gentle declivities; but steep ones must be 
2 



10 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

terraced, or benched with sod or stone, which is more expensive. 
These benches should be as broad as they can be made conveniently, 
and with a slight inclination to the hill, that they may be drained 
by stone or wooden gutters, running into the main trunks, to carry 
off the water without washing away the soil. This is important, 
and requires good judgment and skill. 

PLANTING. 

Much diversity of opinion exists, as to the proper distance of 
planting the vines apart in the rows. Our native varieties with 
their long joints, large foliage, and luxuriant growth, certainly 
require more room to grow than the short jointed vines of the 
Ehine. Hence it is supposed, that our German vine-dressers have 
sometimes erred, in planting too close in this country, — 3^ by 4; 
4 by 4; 4 by 4^, &c. For steep hill sides, 3| by 4|, or 3 by 5 
may answer, but for gentle slopes 3^ by 6 is close enough, and for 
level land, 4 by 7. This will admit sun and air to mature the fruit, 
and leave a liberal space for the roots to grow. 

Lay off the vineyard carefully with a line, and put down a stick 
some 15 inches long, where each vine is to grow. Dig a hole about 
a foot deep, and plant two cuttings to each stick, in a slanting posi- 
tion, separated 6 or 8 inches at the bottom, and 1 inch at the top of 
the hole, throw in a shovel full of rich vegetable mould, from the 
woods, to make the roots strike freely; let the top eye of the cut- 
tings be even with the surface of the ground, and cover with half 
an inch of light mould, if the weather is dry. 

If both the cuttings groAV, take up one of them the following 
spring, or cut it off under ground, as but one vine should be left to 
each stake. 

To prepare the cuttings for planting, bury them in the earth when 
pruned from the vines, and by the latter end of March, or early in 
April, which is the right time for planting, the buds will be so 
swelled, as to make them strike root with great certainty. 

Each cutting should contain at least four joints, and be taken 
from wood well ripened; if a small part of the old wood is left on 
the lower end, so much the better; cut them off close below the 
lower joint, and about an inch above the upper. Set out some 
extra cuttings in a nursery to replace failures in the vineyard. 

Some good vine dressers have recommended planting with roots 
two years old, but the experience of others is in favor of planting 
at once with cuttings in the vineyard ; the vine being never disturbed 
by removal makes the more thrifty and permanent plant. 

Of course the planting should only be made when the ground is 
warm and dry, or mellow. 

TREATMENT OF THE YOUNG VINEYARD. 
The first year, keep the ground clean and free from weeds, with 
the hoe; many use the plough as being more expeditious and eco- 
nomical, but the more careful vine dressers who can afford it, never 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 11 

cultivate with the plough, using only the two pronged German hoe, 
made especially for the purpose. 

The earth should be stirred around the young vines, two or three 
times during the season, to promote their growth; superfluous shoots 
must be pulled off, leaving but one or two to grow, at first, and but 
one eventually. 

In the spring, cut the young vine down to a single eye, or bud ; 
at first, if two are left for greater safety, take off one, afterwards; 
drive a stake 6 or 7 feet long firmly to each plant. Locust or cedar 
is preferred, but oak or black walnut, charred at the end, driven 
into the earth, or coated with coal tar, will, it is said, last nearly as 
long. Keep the young vine tied neatly to the stake, with rye or 
wheat straw — pick off all suckers, and let but one stalk or cane 
grow. The vineyard must be kept clean of weeds, and the young 
vines hoed as tefore. 

The second spring after planting, cut down to two or three eyes, 
or joints, and the third year to four or five; suckering, tieing up, 
and hoeing the vines as recommended above. 

Re-plant from the nursery, where the cuttings have failed to strike 
root in the vineyard. 

The third year, the vines will produce a few grapes, sometimes 
enough to pay the expenses of attending them. 

Train two canes to the stake this year, take off suckers, and keep 
well hoed. 

The vineyard having now commenced to bear, may be considered 
as fairly established; and for the fourth and successive years, the 
following treatment is generally adopted. 

SPRING PRUNING. 

This is usually done from the middle of February to the first 
week in March. Some prune in January, and Mr. Schuman has 
recommended November and December, as the proper time. 

No serious injury to the vines, by winter pruning, has yet been 
discovered. 

Pruning, the fourth year, requires good judgment, as the standard 
stem, or stalk, has to be established. 

Select the best shoot or cane of last year, and cut it down to 6 or 
8 joints, and fasten it to the adjoining stake in a horizontal position, 
or bend it over in the form of a hoop or bow, and tie it to its own 
stake. The ties should be of willow. This is the bearing wood. 
The other cane, cut down to a spur of two or three eyes, to make 
bearing wood for the next season. 

Mr. Schuman remarks in his treatise, "There are various methods 
of training adopted. Some tie the shoot up to the stake with two 
or three ties at proportionate distances. 

"The greater part of the German vine-planters make circular bows 
with three ties, and another mode is to make half-circle bows. I 
recommend the latter as the best, and proceed to describe it. 



12 CuLTURK OF THE GrAPE IN THE OhIO VaLLEY. 

" Give the shoot the first tie on the stake 9 inches from the ground, 
and the second, 9 inches above it ; then bow it over to the neighbor- 
ing stake in a horizontal position, and give it the third tie to that 
stake, at the top of the vine." 

In the succeeding, and all subsequent years, cut away the old 
bearing wood, and form the new bow, or arch, from the best branch 
of the new wood of the last year, leaving a spur as before, to pro- 
duce bearing wood for the coming year, thus keeping the old stalk 
of the vine down to within 18 to 24 inches, from the ground. 
The vine is then always within reach, and control. 

Should a vine be lost after the vineyard is in bearing, it can be 
replaced by a layer from the adjoining vine, which is a much better 
mode than planting a young vine. The layers may be put down 
late in summer, but spring is preferred. 

Cultivate the yellow, and the osier willow, to make ties for 
the spring pruning. They will grow in any wet place. 

SUMMER PRUNING 
Consists in removing suckers, and pinching off all lateral shoots, 
leaving but two stalks or canes to be trained for bearing wood the 
ensuing year, and pinching off the ends of the bearing branches, 
about the time of blossoming, some two or three joints beyond, or 
above the last blossom bunch; pull no leaves off the Jmrz'no- branches, 
and but very few from any other. As the vines grow, tie them 
neatly to the stakes, with rye straw, (some use grass,) and when they 
reach the top, train them from one stake to the other, until the fruit 
has nearly matured; the green ends may then be broken off. If 
this is done too early, there is danger of forcing out the fruit-bear- 
ing buds for the next year, and of injuring the grapes in ripening. 

CULTURE. 

The vineyard must be kept perfectly clean from weeds and grass, 
and should be hoed twice during the spring and summer. 

The cultivator or the plough is less expensive, but the vines and 
roots are in danger of being injured by that mode of culture; there- 
fore the hoe is preferred by those who can afford it. It has been 
recommended by some writers, to cut off the roots of the vines near 
the surface of the ground, and for 4 or 5 inches under, that the 
roots, when the vines are young, may be well established at a proper 
depth below. 

By others, this plan is thought to be injurious. The majority 
however, prefer cutting off the surface roots for the first three or 
four years. 

About every third year, put in manure, by opening a trench the 
width of a spade, and four or five inches deep. Above and near 
each row, throw in two or three inches of well rotted manure, and 
cover up with the earth. 



Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 13 

Another plan adopted, is to run a furrow with the plough, put 
in manure, and cover over, either with the plough or hoe. 

Others, again, scatter manure over the surface, and dig it in. 

An intelligent cultivator, J. A. Corneau, remarks : "high ma- 
nuring is generally admitted to be injurious to the vinous quality of 
the Grape ; or, in other words, it accelerates a larger growth of 
wood, and a more attractive looking fruit, while the more essential 
qualities of the grape for Wine making, are very much deteriorated. 
No substance should ever be used which has a tendency to ferment, 
or which, in undergoing a chemical change in the soil, would form 
an acid or a salt of a highly stimulating nature. Vegetable ma- 
nures, bones, &c., may be used to advantage." Well rotted stable 
yard manure has been used moderately, by the writer, with good 
effects to the plants and the fruit, and without any perceptive injury 
to the " vinous quality of the grape." 

DISEASES, INSECTS, AND FROSTS. 

The "rot," as it is termed, is the great evil, especially in culti- 
vating the Catawba. 

This takes place usually in the latter end of June or early in July, 
Dr. Warder says, " about the period of stoning," or hardening of 
the seed," after continued heavy rains, and hot sweltering suns. — 
It strikes, something like the rust in wheat, suddenly, and with the 
same disastrous effect to the crop. Various modes of prevention 
have been recommended, but none yet tried have proved effectual. 

The cause is supposed to be an excess of water about the roots of 
the vine, in any clay subsoil retentive of moisture ; sandy soils with 
a gravelly sub-stratum, are generally exempt from this disease. 

The opinions of Mr. Elliott, Mr. Longworth, and the Fruit 
Committee of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, on this subject, 
are quoted. 

Mr. Elliott, in the Horticulturist, Vol. 2. P. 314, says, "the 
rot for the past three years has followed excessive rains in July and 
August. Dr. Flagg, two years since, found a small part of a vine- 
yard where the rot was very slight, (the writer's,) this had not been 
worked after the spring, and the ground was in such a state, that 
most of the rains passed off on the surface. Vines planted in rows 
eight feet apart, in one instance were found not to be affected with 
rot, but very slightly .... The subject has been but little 
investigated, and therefore all can speculate." 

In the same article, page 319, Mr. Longworth says : " It is of 
late years only, that the rot has been so destructive among our 
grapes ; one thing is certain, if we had little or no rain after the 
grapes are fairly forward, we should see but little of the rot; certain 
it is, it is continued rains followed by a hot sun, that causes i!s to 
look out for the appearance of the rot." 

In the able report of Dr. Mosher, Mr. Ernst, and Mr. Kidd, 



14 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

the Fruit Committee of the Society for 1848, it is remarked, "some 
vineyards were injured by the wet weather in July, causing the 
grapes to rot and fall off : this, however, seems to have been con- 
nned to situations where the air had not a free circulation, allowing 
fogs and vapors to remain too long upon the vines in hot weather, 
as well as to a tenacious clayey soil ; on dry and more airy situa- 
tions, and where the ground was thoroughly drained, the crop has 
been line and fair " 

H. W. S. Cleveland, of Burlington, N. J., who has a vine- 
yard of two to three acres, and who, Mr. Downing says, is one of 
the most reliable horticulturists in the State, recommends covering 
the whole surface of the vineyard with shavings, leaves, or coarse 
grass, to prevent the ravages of insects, and diseases of the fruit — 
see Horticulturist, Vol. 3. P. 113.— In the same Vol. P. 121, "A 
Jerseyman," in summer pruning, put the leaves and young stems in 
a trench at the root of the vines — sprinkled gypsum on them, and 
covered over with earth. This was done at the suggestion of Mr. 
Downing, who strongly recommends it to the vine dressers on the 
Ohio, with a request that upon trial they " report progress." 

And at page 161, of the same Vol., " B.," " of Chester Co. Pa." 
recommends "special manures," as a certain specific — having tried 
with success, a mixture of guano, gypsum, and wood ashes. 

Mr. Downing says to " J. D. Legare, Aiken, S. C," in the 
same Vol. P. 255. " We note your experiment with ashes to pre- 
vent rot, but you must not decide against it with one year's trial. — 
It has been found effectual here at the north, when used along with 
gypsum." 

Two years ago, the writer of this treatise tried ashes on a small 
scale, but without Gypsum ; a trench was dug above two rows, the 
width of a spade, some four inches deep, and two or three inches 
of leached ashes put in and covered over with earth. No beneficial 
effect was perceived. The two rows were slightly affected by the 
rot, as were those adjoining. 

Hoeing in autumn, and not stirring the ground at all in the spring 
and summer, but keeping the weeds cut down, and the surface 
smooth, that the water may not sink, but pass off rapidly, has also 
been spoken of as a probable remedy against rot. 

Some persons even recommend letting the weeds grow ; to say 
the least of it, this would be slovenly culture. 

With a view to test the advantages of wide planting, and high 
training, in preventing the rot, Mr. Werk, has planted on his farm 
near Cheviot, eleven acres in the Catawba grape, twenty feet apart 
in the rows each way, and the vines are trained to locust stakes, 
twelve feet high. Last year they produced fruit for the first time, 
and were entirely free from rot. But here it must be remarked, that 
the Jlist crop, from young vines, is generally but little affected by 
that disease. Mr. Werk also cultivated the ground between the 
rows, for other purposes. 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 15 

The reader is referred to two articles from the pen of Mr. Long- 
worth, in the appendix, for his views on this subject. Oct. 21, 
1848, and Feb. 18th, 1850. 

The " mildew" comes earlier in the season, when the Grapes 
are about one fourth grown, blighting occasionally a few bunches, 
and sometimes only the lower end. It is neither common nor destruc- 
tive. 

The " speck," by some persons mistaken for the rot, and by 
others called the bitter rot, is a large circular spot on the side of the 
grape, looking as if caused by the sting of an insect, and extending 
to the seed on one side of the berry, whilst the other is uninjured ; 
but owing to this wound, or speck, the juice will be bitter. This 
has been attributed to the action of the sun on the fruit when cover- 
ed with rain or dew drops. 

The vine is so remarkably healthy, and of such luxuriant growth 
in almost any proper soil, that diseases at the r^oot are almost unknown 
here. Mr. Schuman states that a white worm resembling the peach 
tree worm, is sometimes found eating off the young roots of the 
vine, and Mr. Mottier has also found and destroyed it — but it is 
rarely met with in vineyards. 

The Insects found most annoying, are a green v)orm that feeds on 
the vines just as the fruit buds appear, and before they blossom, eat- 
ing off the tender bunches, and doing great mischief if not prompt- 
ly destroyed. The Canker, or Measuring Worm (of which the 
above may be a variety) is sometimes found on the leaves and 
young shoots. The Curculio, so destructive to the plum, has oc- 
casionally been found on the grapes ; they can be readily shaken 
down on a sheet, by a sudden blow on the stake, and destroyed. If 
ever permitted to get domesticated in a vineyard, this insect would 
be immensely destructive. 

The Rose-bug, Dr. Shaler says, has been observed in some vine- 
yards in Kentucky, but it is rarely met with here. 

A ka^ge brown beetle, or bug, will frequently sting the young ten- 
der branches of the vine in summer, making a wound that subjects 
the branch to be broken off by strong winds. They can be watched 
and picked off, late in the evening, or early in the morning. All 
horticulturists are familiar with the spring and the early fall catter- 
pillar, and of course, would not permit either to get a foothold in 
the vineyard. 

Frost. Late spring frosts have some years, but not often, been 
highly injurious, especially to vineyards near small streams of water, 
damp woods, or in cold situations. The most severe within the 
memory of the writer, occurred on the nights of the 26th of April 
1834, 9th May 1838, 7th May 1845, and the 15th April 1849. 

In the three first named years, the buds had so far put out, that 
their loss was not replaced by the pushing out subsequently of the 
latent, or twin bud, which partially overcame the loss of the first, 
in the latter year, 1849. These frosts, therefore, nearly destroyed 
the crop, in situations near moisture. 



16 Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

In warm sandy lands, with a gravelly sub-stratum, the buds are in 
some years pushed forward prematurely by warm autumns, so as to 
be killed by severe frosts in winter. 

Out of eighty-three vineyards in this county in 1845, Dr. Flagg 
reported twenty-one much injured by the frost. 

VARIETIES OF GRAPES CULTIVATED, AND OF WINE MADE FROM 

THEM. 

1. The Catawba is our great wine grape, and stands without a 
a rival. Mr. Longworth has offered $600 reward for a better native 
variety, and several new seedlings have been produced, but its equal 
has not yet been found. It is subject to rot. 

Wine ; varying from a clear water color to straw color and 
pink ; of a fine fruity aroma ; makes an excellent champagne, and 
a good dry hock. Requires no sugar in fermentation, if the grapes 
are well ripened. In the Horticulturist, vol. 2, p. 317, Mr. Long- 
worth states : — " Maj. Adlum had a proper appreciation of the value 
of the Catawba Grape. In a letter to me he remarked: — 'In bring- 
ing this grape into public notice, I have rendered my country a 
greater service than I would have done, had I paid off the National 
debt.' I concur in his opinion." 

2. Cape; this old favorite of former days, is now almost dis- 
placed by the Catawba. It is still cultivated in some vineyards, but 
not extensively — a very hardy variety and but little affected by the 
rot. 

Makes a good ivine, resembling claret — requires some sugar to be 
added in fermentation. 

3. Isabella, a variety much esteemed in some of the Eastern 
States, particularly about the city of New York — where it ripens 
better than here. It is almost abandoned as a wine grape, and gen- 
erally cultivated only for table use ; a hardy variety, subject less to 
rot, than to mildew — in some seasons ripens badly. 

Wine sometimes good, and resembling a light Madeira — requires 
a good deal of sugar in the fermentation ; say 18 to 24 ounces to 
the gallon of juice, or " must." 

4. Bland's Madeira; a delicious table grape, resembling the 
Catawba in its appearance. Too tender for vineyard culture in this 
climate. On arbors in sheltered situations, it bears well. 

5. Ohio, or Cigar Box, is a fine table grape, bunches very large 
and shouldered, berries small, black, sweet, and without pulp ; does 
well on arbors or trellises, but will scarcely answer for the vineyard 
culture — requires long pruning. 

Wine ; dark red, inferior in flavor when new, but improves by 
age. 

6. Lenoir; a black grape, bunches large and compact, some- 
times shouldered, without pulp, berries small, black, sweet and pala- 
table. Subject in clay soils to mildew and rot. 

7. Missouri ; fruit black, bunches loose and of medium size, ber- 



Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 17 

ries without pulp, sweet and agreeable. Sometimes cultivated in 
vineyards ; a good variety for wine. 

Wine; "makes an excellent wine, somewhat resembling Ma- 
deira." 

8. Norton's Seedling; bunches of medium size, compact, 
shouldered, berries small, purple, sweet, but with a pulp. 

Wine ; inferior. 

9. Herbemont's Madeira ; a good wine, and a pleasant table 
grape ; bunches medium size, berries small, black, and without pulp. 

Wine ; pink or light red, resembling in flavor the Spanish Man- 
zanilla. 

10. Minor's Seedling; a new grape of the Fox family. Fruit; 
bunches medium size, berries large, pulpy, musky, and rich flavored, 
very hardy; but little subject to rot. 

Wine; too musky and high flavored to be pleasant, without mixing 
with other kinds. 

This grape will probably be found a valuable variety for the vine- 
yard. 

11. White Catawba; a new seedling from the Catawba, but far 
inferior to the parent. 

Bunches medium size, shouldered, berries white, large, round, and 
pulpy — in taste like the Fox Grape. 
Wine; not tested. 

12. Mammoth Catawba; another new seedling, resembling the 
Catawba in color, but not so well flavored. Bunches large, shoul- 
dered, berries very large, round, pulpy — in some seasons subject to 
fall off" before ripening. 

Wine; not tested. 

Mr. Longworth in a letter to the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, 
remarks: — "I have for thirty years experimented on the foreign 
grape, both for the table and for wine. In the acclimation of plants, 
I do not believe ; for the White Sweet Water does not succeed as 
well with me, as it did thirty years since. I obtained a large variety 
of French grapes from Mr. Loubat, many years since. They were 
from the vicinity of Paris and Bourdeaux. From Madeira, I ob- 
tained six thousand vines of their best wine grapes. Not one was 
found worthy of cultivation in this latitude, and were rooted from the 
vineyards. As a last experiment, I imported seven thousand vines 
from the mountains of Jura, in the vicinity of Salins, in France. 
At that point the vine region suddenly ends, and many vines are there 
cultivated on the north side of the mountain, where the ground is 
covered with snow the whole winter, from three to four feet deep. 
Nearly all lived, and embraced about twenty varieties of the most 
celebrated wine grapes of France. But after a trial of five years, 
all have been thrown away. I also imported samples of wine made 
from all the grapes. One variety alone, the celebrated Arbois wine, 
which partakes slightly of the Champagne character, would compete 
with our Catawba. 
3 



18 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

" If we intend cultivating the grape for wine, we must rely on our 
native grapes, and new varieties raised from their seed. If I could 
get my lease of life renewed for twenty or thirty years, I would 
devote my attention to the subject, and I Avould cross our best native 
varieties with the best table and wine grapes of Europe. We live in 
a great age. Discoveries are daily made that confound us, and we 
know not where we shall stop. We are told of experiments in 
mesmerism, as wonderful as the grinding over system would be; 
but I fear the discovery will not be brought to perfection in time to 
answer my purpose, and I must leave the subject with the young 
generation. 

" I have heretofore wanted faith in the doctrine of French Horti- 
culturists, that to improve your stock of pears, you must not select 
the seed of the finest fruit, but of the natural choke pear. I am half 
converted to their views. The Catawba is clearly derived from the 
common Fox grape. In raising from its seed, even white ones are 
produced, but I have not seen one equal to the parent plant, and in 
all, the white down on the under side of the leaf, and the hairs on 
the stalk, common to the wild Fox grape, are abundant." 

DURABILITY OF A VINEYARD. 

The oldest vineyard in this county is one of Mr. Longworth's, on 
Baldface. 

It was planted 27 years ago, on ground trenched with the spade 2 
feet deep. It is still in vigorous bearing, and has nothing to contend 
with, but the rot in wet seasons. 

Several other vineyards in the county are from 15 to 18, and a 
few 20, years old. 

Dr. MosHER in an able article on Grape Culture, in the " Farmer 
and Gardener," vol. 5, p. 206, says: 

" Vineyards planted at Vevay, in Indiana, by the Swiss, merely 
on deeply ploughed ground, failed in fifteen years. When the ground 
is ploughed eighteen inches deep, it may bear tolerably well for 
twenty years ; but a vineyard planted on ground well trenched two 
feet deep, and properly drained and cultivated, may be expected to 
last fifty or one hundred years, or perhaps more. The crop, also, is 
much more certain when the ground is well trenched, not being so 
liable to suffer from droughts or rainy seasons." 

Mr. MottierIs of the opinion that fiftyyears is as long as a vineyard 
will last in this country, even with the best attention. 

TO RESTORE PREMATURE DECAY IN A VINEYARD. 
It has been suggested, that when the ground was prepared origin- 
ally Avith the plough, and the vines planted too close together, the 
vineyard might be restored to vigorous bearing, by taking up every 
other vine in the close planted rows, and trenching the ground for half 
the distance between the rows 2| feet deep. How far the partial root 
pruning thus given to the vines might affect them, is uncertain. The 
experiment might be tried on a small scale. 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 19 

The old system of renewing worn out vineyards, by trenching be- 
tween each row, and forming new plants from layers, is a good one; 
but two or three seasons are lost in adopting that method. 



MAKING- W^INE. 

THE WINE PRESS 
Is made somewhat like a ^' scTew cider press." An iron screw, 
three to four inches in diameter is used — either in a strong upright 
frame, or coming up through the centre of the platform (the latter 
is the cheapest, and most simple in construction.) A strong, tight, 
box platform 6 or 7 feet square, of 2 or 3 inch plank, 6 or 8 inches 
high at the sides, is wedged into heavy timbers; and, in this, a box of 
1^ inch boards, 5 or 6 feet square, perforated with holes near the 
lower edge, 8 or 10 inches high at the sides, (made to be readily 
taken apart,) is placed, to contain the mashed grapes. Boards to 
fit loosely inside of this box, and lay on top of the pile of mashed 
grapes (or " cheese" as cider-makers call it) and pieces of scantling 
to lay across to receive the pressure, completethe press. 

The power is applied by a strong lever attached to the nut or 
female screw, and the juice runs out through a hole, with a spout, 
in front of the platform, into a large receiving tub. 

N. B. Doctor Warder suggests an improvement, adopted by 
Mr. Rentz, in his wine press. Inch strips are placed on the plat- 
form, and boards perforated with holes, laid on them as a bottom for 
the box that contains the mashed grapes. 

GATHERING AND PRESSING THE GRAPES. • 

The grapes should remain on the vines until veri/ ripe, "dead 
ripe" as some express it. Pick off all decayed or unripe berries 
from the bunches, which are then bruised in a mashing tub, (a ves- 
sel like an inverted churn,) or passed through a small wooden mill, 
breaking the skins and pulp, but not the seeds. They are then 
emptied into the press, and the screw applied, until the pulp and 
skins are pressed dry, or all the juice is extracted. The outside of 
the cheese has to be cut off two or three times, and thrown on the 
top, and re-pressed, in order to extract all the juice. The juice 
or " must" as it is called, is then put into clean casks in a cool 
cellar, for fermentation. 

Every thing connected with the making of wine, requires great 
care and neatness. The press, vessels, and casks, must be perfectly 
clean; and, in short, as much attention to cleanliness must be 
observed, as in making butter, else the wine will lose the fine fruiti/, 
aroma and Jlavor of the grape, which is to give it character and 
make it sell. 



20 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 



The "pummies" (skins and seeds after being pressed) is thrown 
on the manure pile; or, distilled, to make brandy. 

Mr. Long WORTH says, " To insure success, we must observe 
great care in selecting the fruit. Select good sweet casks, and use 
cleanliness in expressing the juice, and skill in the process of manu- 
facture and preservation of the wine. Keep it in a cool cellar, cask 
tight, and carefully rack the same yearly, till the wine is perfectly 
fine, and fit for bottling. For wines, that have no alcohol added, 
require tight casks and cool cellars, to keep them sound. They are 
less subject to run into the acetous fermentation with us, than they 
are in France and Germany. To the ropiness of which they com- 
plain, our wine is not subject. It is a common saying in France 
and Germany, that ' a poor man cannot make good wine.' The 
reason is obvious. The rich man not only has more influence in 
obtaining favorable opinions, but he also uses more care and skill in 
the manufacture. The poor man must sell his wine as soon as made. 
The rich man retains it till it is improved by age, and never sells 
any under his own name, but that which proves to be of superior 
quality. The vintage of bad years, is sold without a name. So 
much depends on manufacture and reputation in Europe, that wine 
from the same variety of grape, and the vines divided by a footpath 
in the same vineyard, have very different reputations. The one will 
bring $18 per dozen, where its neighbor will not command §3. 
Many commence the manufacture at the lowest price, and in a few 
years by great care and skill command the highest." 

In the Horticulturist of January last, a writer from Mississippi 
recommends the use of whisky bai^rels, in wine making. Perhaps 
they might answer in Mississippi, but it would be a great mistake 
to use them here. The taste of the whisky would destroy the fla- 
vor ol^our Catawba grape, — which we prize so highly in our wine, — 
and render it unsaleable. To avoid giving any extraneous taste 
to the wine, the casks should be at first, new, filled up with pure 
water, and soaked for 10 or 15 days; then, well scalded out, and 
fumigated with sulphur. In using them afterwards, they should be 
thoroughly cleansed every year, before the wine is put in them to 
ferment. 

FERMENTATION. 

This process as generally pursued here, is very simple. The 
casks are filled up within 3 or 4 inches of the bung, and the bung 
put on loosely. The gas escapes without the wine running over. 
Usually, in two to four weeks, the fermentation ceases, and the 
wine becomes clear; then Jill up the casks and tighten the bungs. 

In February or March, rack oflf the wine into clean casks. 

A second, but moderate fermentation, will take place late in the 
spring; after that the wine fines itself, and is ready for sale ; and if 
the casks are kept well filled, and the bungs tight, it will improve by 
age for many years. Use no brandy or sugar ^ if the grapes are 
sound and well ripened. 



Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 21 

The safest method of keeping this wine is in bottles, well corked 
and sealed, and laid on their sides. 

The fewer rackings it receives, and the less it is exposed to the 
air, the sweeter and better it will keep; and retaining the fine aroma 
flavor of the grape, and acquiring but little acidity. It will do to 
bottle in about a year after it is made, but two years would be 
better. Never bottle before the second fermentation. 

As the process of fermentation is a matter of the greatest im- 
portance in making wine, the reader is referred to the Appendix, for 
an able article on the subject, from the pen of Mr. Longworth. 

THE CHARACTER OF THE WINE 

Has suffered much from want of skill, and careful attention in mak- 
ing it, as well as from neglect, in not keeping it in cool cellars; but, 
that it can be made good, and when so made, enjoys a high reputa- 
tion both at home and abroad, the following extracts will clearly 
show. 

At the autumnal exhibition of the Cincinnati Horticultural So- 
ciety in 1843, the committee, after passing judgment on the wines 
exhibited, remark: "The committee have great confidence in saying, 
that these fine specimens of pure native wines, have placed it beyond 
a doubt, that the time is not far distant, when our surrounding hills 
will be as celebrated for good wine, as any part of the valley of the 
Rhine." 

At the conclusion of a very able report by Dr. Flagg, chairman 
of the same committee, May 2, 1846, an analysis of wines by Dr. 
Chapman, is given. 

I. Catawba, from N. Longworth's vintage, 1845, alcohol 11.5. 
water, 88.5, equal 100. 

II. Catawba, from Rentz's vintage, 1845, Alcohol, 11, water 
89— equal 100. 

III. Hockheimer, Rhine wine, 7 years old, alcohol 7.5 — water 
92 6— equal to 100. 

IV. Red wine, (Cape) P. Bates' vintage, 1845, alcohol, 9.12 — 
water 90.88— equal 100. 

Showing a decided difference in favor of the American wine:" 

The above wines were the pure juice of the grape. 

Mr. Longworth, Horticulturist, vol. 2. p. 318, in an article to C. 
W. Elliot, written in 1847, remarks : 

" My own impression is, that in skillful hands, our Catawba will 
make a wine superior in flavor and aroma to the best French Cham- 
pagne imported, or that manufactured in London from perry, or, 
in New Jersey from cider and green corn. The aroma of the Cataw- 
ba grape continues in the wine in all its stages. 

" I made the first Champagne five years since. It was produced 
by chance, and induced me to erect a building for the manufacture, 
and to send to France for a manufacturer ; I shall be content, if we 



22 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

can always make as fine a wine by design, as was then made by ac- 
cident." 

In a communication to the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, Sept. 
10, 1845, Mr. Longworth remarks: 

" We have prejudices to overcome, ' for a prophet is not honored 
in his own country.' 

" We become fond of the flavor of particular wines from a contin- 
ued use of them, as some of our citizens have of the bilge-water taste 
of the Spanish Manzanilla. Our domestic wines have a flavor of their 
own, and with wine drinkers accustomed to the particular flavor of 
other wines, it will require time to form a taste for them. It was so 
with our German population ; for a time they gave a decided prefer- 
ence to German wines. They now greatly prefer the domestic. 

" For the manufacture of a fine dry Hock, I consider the Catawba 
unrivalled. 

" But our Madeira and Sherry wine bibbers would say as Mr. 
ScHULTz's friends told him in Baltimore, thirty years since, when 
as a new article in this country, he gave them as a great treat, some 
old dry Hock. He said nothing, but looked round expecting to see 
smacking of lips, and hear exclamations of admiration. But the 
universal cry was, ' What a pity, Shultz, you?- cide?- is sour!^ 

" At a comparison of domestic wines from our different vineyards, 
by a dozen of Hock-drinkers, selected for the occasion, the gentle- 
man who acted as chief of the judges, was a great admirer of Span- 
ish Manzanilla ; and with a view to test their judgment, I slipped 
in a bottle of his favorite wine. Whilst his brethren Avere tasting the 
wine and expressing their opinions, their leader slowly tasted each 
bottle, but said not a word until he had tasted the whole. He then 
remarked that 'he should reserve his opinion as to the best, but 
would promptly decide which was the loorst bottle on the table,' 
and placed his hand on the Manzanilla. I told him I concurred in 
his opinion, but he might change his mind when advised that it was 
his favorite Spanish wine, and from the same cask that he had al- 
ways pronounced a superior article. 

" A gentleman from an Eastern city, a few evenings since, very 
gravely and sincerely gave me an instance Avhich took place in his 
own presence. Their wine club had recently broached a pipe of 
high priced wine, with which they were much delighted, till a con- 
spicuous member observed that he detected a slight taste of copper — 
a brother member admitted a slight peculiar flavor, but insisted that 
it was leather. The President of the club was referred to, who 
promptly decided that it was a compound of both copper and leather. 
The debate waxed warm, and all three had their adherents, when it 
was decided to draw off" the wine from the pipe in the presence of 
the Society. This was done, and at the bottom immersed in the 
sediment was found a small copper key with a short strip of leather 
attached to it! " Mr. Longworth remarks, "I presume the East- 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 23 

em gentleman took it for granted that Don Quixote had never got as 
far west 8rs our backwoods." 

A gentleman in our own city, in whose judgment in wines great 
confidence was placed, could never be induced even to taste our 
domestic Hock, though a great admirer of the imported article. On 
two or three occasions I knew him to take a glass, and praise it 
highly; but the moment that a smile from the host told him of his 
error, he backed out, readily discovered his error, and could not be 
induced to make a further trial. But on a certain occasion a friend 
invited him to dine with him, and drink a glass of superior Hock, 
recently sent him as a present. The bait took — the gentleman 
praised the wine highly, and pronounced it equal to any he had ever 
drank, and proved his sincerity, by not leaving the table till he had 
two bottles under his belt; and for the next month, never met his 
host, without enquiring if all his fine wine was gone, and express- 
ing a great desire to give it a second trial. After he was fairly 
committed, he was told that it was the native Catawba. From that 
day he knocked under, and acknowledged his prejudices had blinded 
him." 

One of the most distinguished physicians and Horticulturists in 
the State, Dr. Kirtland, in his article on the cultivation of the 
grape, in the "Western Farmer," vol. 3, p. 134, (1842) observes: — 
"The point has been satisfactorily settled, that the rich limestone 
formations in the south-western part of Ohio, are as well adapted to 
this purpose as any locality on the earth, unless it be in some vol- 
canic regions enjoying a more uniform climate. Evidences abun- 
dant can be brought to sustain the position, that within half a cen- 
tury, Cincinnati will be celebrated for her 'vine clad hills.' 

"I look upon this subject with great interest in another point of 
view. During an extensive practice in the medical profession, for 
more than twenty-five years, I have frequently found it important to 
employ wine and other diffusable stimulants as medicines What- 
ever other medical men may say or think of the matter, I must state, 
that I cannot in all instances find in the Materia Medica a substitute 
for them ; and while I am disposed to go as far as any one, in exclud- 
ing strong drinks from the daily use of people in health, I must 
express my satisfaction, at finding we can produce in our own coun- 
try, a pure, healthy wine, well adapted to medical purposes, and far 
superior to the adulterated, poisonous foreign compounds, that often 
find their way to the bedsides of the sick, under the names of ' Lis- 
bon,' ' Madeira,' &c. &c." 

In the Horticulturist, vol. 1, p. 53, Mr. Downing says: — " Mr. 
Long worth of Cincinnati very obligingly sent us last month a case 
of American wine, the product of his vineyards on the banks of the 
Ohio. 

" We have been in the highest degree pleased with these wines. 
They severally are the product of the Catawba, Cape, Isabella, and 
Missouri grapes — all native sorts. The very best is the Catawba, 



24 Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

of which we received samples of several vintages. The character 
of the wine is that of excellent hock, like the better cla# wines of 
the Rhine. 

" We sent a bottle of this Catawba wine to one of the oldest and 
most respectable wine houses in this country, Messrs. Bininger & 
Co., New York. These gentlemen wrote us in reply : — ' We are 
very much gratified in having an opportunity of tasting this wine, 
which is the first American wine that deserves the name of wine, 
that we have ever seen. It strongly resembles hock, and we should 
have pronounced it such.' " 

Mr. Downing farther says: — "These wines are entirely pure, 
without the addition of alcohol, and the temperance cause has every 
thing to gain, and nothing to lose, by a general production and con- 
sumption of such a wholesome beverage. This, every one familiar 
with the hock and claret districts of Europe, where ardent spirits are 
not used, will cheerfully bear testimony to. Indeed until such wines 
can be produced, and afforded as they soon will be, pure, and at low 
prices at home, only a small class of persons in this country will 
ever know what pure light wines really are ; what is sold as such 
by the retail dealers in the country generally, is so brandied and man- 
ufactured, as to become worse than ardent spirits itself." 

Dr. Flagg, in his able report to the Cincinnati Horticultural So- 
ciety for 1846, justly observes : — " I am confident that the introduc- 
tion of pure light wine as a common beverage, will produce a great 
national and moral reform — one that will be received by our tem- 
perance brethren ere long as a national blessing — one that will com- 
plete the work they have already begun. The temperance cause is 
rapidly preparing public sentiment for the introduction of pure Amer- 
ican wine. So long as public taste remains vitiated by the use of 
malt and alcoholic drinks, it will be impossible to introduce light, 
pleasant wines, except to a limited extent ; but just in proportion as 
strong drinks are abandoned, a more wholesome one will be substitut- 
ed. Instead of paying millions to foreigners, as we now do, for 
deleterious drinks, as brandy and wines, let us produce from our 
own hill-sides a wholesome beverage that will be within the reach 
of all, the poo7- as well as the rich.'' 

Mr. W. R. Prince, of New York, in his very able article on 
American vineyards, in the Horticulturist, vol. 1, page 393, remarks: 
"The pure juice of the grape is an innocent beverage, grateful to 
our senses, and nourishing to the system. That man has abused 
and perverted its use, is no argument against the article in its pure 
and natural state, for what gift of Providence is there, that has not 
been abused? In every country where wine is produced in abun- 
dance, intemperance is scarcely known, and in this respect the vine- 
growing countries will compare most favorably with their more 
northern neighbors, where alcoholic drinks so abound." 



Culture of the Grape i^ the Ohio Valley. 25 



Extracts from Reports of the Committee on Wines, to the Cincinnati 
Hortictiltural Society for 1843. 

Mr. Mottier's Catawba, vintage of 1837 — was adjudged the 
best. 

Mr. Resor's Catawba, of 1839, " a wine of good capacity," 
" by age, will become of a high character." 

Mr. Mottier's and Mr. Resor's " Cape" wines, highly spoken 
of. 

Report for 1844. The committee met at the house of the Presi- 
dent. 

Thirty-nine bottles were exhibited; some pronounced very fine, 
the preference given to the Catawba. A few bottles of foreign 
wines were intermingled, but generally detected, and pronounced 
inferior to the native. Private marks were placed on all the bottles, 
known only to the President and Secretary. 

This test was very creditable to the discrimination of the judges, 
and favorable to the quality of the native wines. Three gentlemen 
from wine countries in Europe, were added to the committee, 
Messrs. Werk, Rehfuss, and Brachman, who fully concurred in 
the opinion of the superiority of the native wine. 

[See Farmer and Gardner, vol. 5, page 255.] 

At an examination of wines of the vintage of 1847, by the wine 
committee of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, in March 1848, 
36 samples were presented, most of them of excellent quality. 

The prize of a silver cup was awarded to Mr. Schneioke, for the 
best Catawba wine; a certificate to Dr. Mosher, for the second, 
and to Mr. Rentz, for the third best. 

A still larger number of samples was presented at the examina- 
tion by the committee, in April, 1849, of the vintage of 1848, viz. 
51 bottles of Catawba wine. The silver cup was awarded to T. H. 
Yeatman, and Certificates to Mr. Longworth, and Buchanan, 
for the second and third best. The wines presented this year were 
pronounced " excellent" for new wines. 

Samples of wine from Herbemont's Madeira Grape, Cape, 
Minor's Seedling, Missouri, Ohio, Isabella, and Norton's Seedling; 
were presented by Mr. Longworth, and were ranked in quality by 
the Judges, in the order here named. 



Report for 1846. "The committee on American wine having ex- 
amined the specimens sent in to the Annual Exhibition of the Cin- 
cinnati Horticultural Society, held September 9th and 10th, beg 
leave to submit the following brief Report: 

" The number of specimens, although greater than at any former 
Exhibition, was not as large as might have been anticipated at this 
time, there being such an interest taken, and the amount of capital 
so great invested, in the cultivation of the vine, the annual product 
of which, in five years, cannot be less than one hundred thousand 
4 



26 Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 



dollars to this county alone. In order to do ample justice, the spe- 
cimens were removed to a good wine cellar, where they remained 
ten days before they were examined by the hydrometer, and every 
other necessary means taken to give impartial judgment." 

Class 1st. — No. 1. Pure wine; vintage 1845. Spec. grav. .78. 
A most excellent wine; will improve by age. 

No. 2. Four oz. sugar to the gallon. Spec. grav. ,7Q^. Much 
inferior to No. 1, the pure wine. 

Class 2d. — No. 1, with sugar; vintage 1841. Resembles some 
of the light Mediterranean wines ; does not bear comparison with 
the pure wine. 

No. 2, with sugar; vintage 1841. Resembles some of the imita- 
tions of Madeira. Spec. grav. .76. 

Class 3d. — No. 1. Pure wine; vintage 1845. Spec. grav. .74. 
Good wine, rather acid; thought not to have been put into perfectly 
sweet bottles. Not quite equal to No. 1, in class 1st. 

Class 4th. — No. 1. Pure wine; vintage 1845. Not able to judge 
in consequence of its being pricked. 

No. 2. Pure wine; vintage 1845. A fair light wine; resembles 
some of the lower grades of French; believed care was not taken 
in picking the grapes, and in fermentation. 

Class 5th. — No. 1. Pure wine; vintage 1845. Spec. grav. .75^ 
A very superior wine; resembles very much the white hermitage, 
which may be considered a very great compliment. This wine was 
made with great care; the sound and perfect berries being picked 
from the stems, and every other necessary process received equal at- 
tention. 

Class 6th. — No. 1. Pure wine; vintage 1845. Spec. grav. .76. 
May have been originally good; believed to have been put into an 
impure cask, which formerly contained foreign wine, either French 
or German, which very much changed its flavor. 

Class 7th. — No. 1. Pure wine; vintage 1845. Not able to judge, 
being pricked, and not properly treated. Perhaps part of the berries 
were unripe, and other necessary care not taken. 

Your committee would remark that great care and attention are 
necessary in order to produce good pure wine ; much more so than 
any other other agricultural product. The sound perfect fruit should 
be kept separate from that which is imperfect, and the wine never 
allowed to be put into any thing but perfectly pu7r sweet casks or 
bottles; as a very trifling neglect may cause a great loss on wine. 
Much also depends upon fermentation, which requires great atten- 
tion, and after being completed, terminates the business of the cul- 
tivator. 

Some of the specimens for exhibition, were imitations of foreign 
wines, which your committee very much regret, being desirous to 
establish a character for American Avine, which would soon be accom- 
plished, by giving it a fair trial upon its own merits. If American 
wine should ever become a substitute for the present poisonous and 



Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 27 

unwholesome drinks, it must be done by keeping and using it per- 
fectly pure, and avoiding all adulterations and imitations whatever. 
"Your committee award the first premium to Mr. G. Sleath; 
pure wine ; vintage 1845 ; spec. grav. .76|- ; and the second premium 
to Mr. L, Rhefuss ; pure wine ; vintage 1845. 

M. FLAGG, OA'm Committee^ 



GRAPES RAISED AND EXHIBITED BY N. LONGWORTH, IN 1846. 
Ohio, Herbemont, Missouri, 

Catawba, Giant Catawba. Helen, 

Graham, Minor's Seedling, Lake, (a bad bearer.) 

Elsinburg, Norton's Virginia Seedling, Guignard, 

Clarkson's Eastern Catawba, (a good grape but a bad bearer.) White Seedling Catawba, 
Indiana, (of no value.) Improved Purp'.e Fox, 

Black Fox, (of no value.) Red Fox, (of no value.) 

White Fox, " " Virginia, " " 

Piqua, " " 



Report of the Wine Committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, 
Philadelphia, for September, 1848. 

"The committee feel under obligations to Mr. Longworth, for 
his kindness in presenting them with an opportunity of tasting the 
best specimens of American wines they have yet met with. And 
they are pleased to find that the untiring zeal and energy with which 
he has for so many years, and at great expense, prosecuted the sub- 
ject of wine-making, have been crowned with so much success. 

" On motion, ordered that a vote of thanks be tendered to Mr. 
Longworth, for specimens of his fine wines presented to the So- 
ciety." 

The delegation from that Society to the Cincinnati Horticultural 
Society's exhibition in September 1848, reported on its return, 
"various kinds of grapes; both native and foreign were exhibited 
in great abundance. 

"But the favorite with them, and one which seems to be peculiarly 
adapted to their soil and climate, is our native Catawba. It is this 
grape from which they make their choicest wines. Your delegation 
had the pleasure of tasting, at the Horticultural Hall, a sample of 
Mr. Longworth's far-famed "Sparkling Catawba;" and a more 
exquisitely flavored champagne, it would be difficult to meet with 
among the most celebrated foreign brands." 



28 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 



STATISTICS. 

THE COST OF ESTABLISHING A VINEYARD. 

The cost of establishing a vineyard depends much on the posi- 
tion and soil ; and on the resources for labor within the family of the 
proprietor; or, of the tenant who takes the ground on a 12 or 15 
years' lease. It has been usual to give a piece of land of say 15 to 
20 acres, with a small house on it, to a German vine dresser, on a 
lease of 12 to 15 years, binding the tenant to put in a certain quan- 
tity in grapes each year in a proper manner — and at least five or six 
acres within as many years, he paying the proprietor one-half the 
proceeds of the vineyard annually after bearing — and one-half of 
any fruit raised from trees furnished by the proprietor, who also fur- 
nishes roots or cuttings for the first two or three acres planted in 
grapes. 

Mr. Longworth observes: — " I would not recommend any indi- 
vidual to hire hands, and cultivate the grape extensively for wine, 
with a view to profit. But I would recommend landlords to rent 
from 15 to 20 acres to Germans, for vineyards and orchards, on 
shares. We have more to learn in the manufacture of the wine, than 
in the cultivation of the grape. And I would recommend our Ger- 
man vine-dressing emigrants, to purchase or lease a few acres of 
rough, cheap land on the Ohio, or near it, with a view to the culti- 
vation of the grape. Land will be suitable for it, that is too rough 
for the plough, and eight or ten acres will give employment to a 
whole family." 

No accurate statistics of the cost per acre of planting a vineyard 
can be found, except those of the writer, (where every thing was paid 
for in money, and a regular account kept;) and of Mr. Resor's vine- 
yard. 

Cost of a vineyard of six acres — fourteen thousand four hundred 
vines : 

Trenching, two feet deep, $65 per acre. 

Sodding avenues, ------- 

Cost of 30,000 cuttings, at $2,50 per thousand, - 
Planting, -------- 

Fourteen thousand five hundred locust stakes, at $3 per hundred, 
Setting 14,500 stakes, ------ 



Cost of attending the first year — vine dresser, $216, and a hand 
for one month, $15, (and board themselves,) - - - 

Second year — vine dresser, $216, a hand for two months, at $15 
per month, -------- 

Cuttings, after first year, to replace failures, say, 

Hauling, carting, &c., ------ 

Contingencies, &c., - - - - - - 

Average cost, say, $300 per acre, ----- 1,800 00 



$390 00 
60 00 
75 00 
70 00 
435 00 
55 00 


1,085 00 
$231 00 

256 00 
20 00 
68 00 

150 00 



Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 29 

The vineyard being on a gentle declivity did not require benching, 
which would have been more expensive than the draining by sodded 
avenues — nor did the ground contain stone enough to add to the ex- 
pense of trenching, which in some positions is a very serious item. 

By proper economy, a man may have a vineyard of several acres 
in a few years, without feeling the expense to be burdensome. Com- 
mence by trenching one acre in the winter, and planting it out in the 
spring; next year another acre, and so on, for five or six years. Af- 
ter the third year, he will have his own cuttings from the first acre, 
and also grapes enough to pay for the cost of planting the succeeding 
additions to his vineyards. 

If he has suitable timber on his own land, the stakes can be got out 
in the winter with but little outlay in money. By this course the cost 
of a vineyard of six acres would not be half as much as the forego- 
ing estimate. 

In Mr. Resor's article, published here in full, will be found val- 
uable statistical estimates of the cost of the vineyard, and also of its 
product. 

MR. RESOR'S VINEYARD. 

Upon referring to some memoranda of my father, I find amongst 
others, the following account kept of the produce of his vineyard 
since 1837. As several of our members are cultivating the vine, I 
thought it would be interesting, as it is difficult to obtain a statement 
of the kind, kept minutely for a series of years. 

It shows the actual produce, and the certainty of the crop before 
any other fruit in this latitude, and the difference between the Ca- 
tawba and Cape, as to the yield and certainty. The Cape having 
borne a first rate crop for nine successive years, the Catawba failing 
occasionally, from rot and the effects of insects. 

The vineyard has a southern exposure, fronting on the Ohio river; 
it was planted with rooted plants in 1834, and contained at that 
time, 1775 vines, placed in rows four feet apart, and three feet dis- 
tance in the row — the ground being previously trenched, and the 
stones taken out to the depth of two feet. 

In the fall of 1837, the first crop was picked as follows: — 163 
bushels of grapes from which was made 667 gallons of wine. At 
this time there were 1125 Isabella and Cape vines, yielding 113 
bushels, making 469 gallons, and 630 Catawba, yielding 61 bushels, 
making 198 gallons. 

1838, Vintage, September 10, produce 327 galls. 

1839, " " 5, «' 440 " 

1840, " " 20, Cape 240 

Catawba 65—305 " 

This year, (1840,) most of the Catawba rotted on the vines. From 
this time there were 2300 vines, about one-half of each kind. 

1841 Vintage, Sept. 15, produce 237 galls. Catawba, 
••' " •' 275 " Cape. 

512 gallons. 



30 Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

1842 Vintage, Sept. 12, produce 166 galls. Catawba. 

" " " 319 " Cape. 

485 gallons. 

1843 Vintage, Sept. 15, produce 250 galls. Catawba. 

" " " 288 " Cape. 

538 gallons. 

1844 Vintage, Sept. 15, produce 108 galls. Catawba. 

" " " 306 " Cape. 

414 gallons. 

1845 Vintage, Sept. 9, produce 283 galls. Cape, 

" " " 349 " Catawba. 

632 gallons. 

About one-eighth of the Catawba grapes were destroyed by bees 
and other insects after ripening. 

The quantity eaten by three families, is not taken into this ac- 
count. 

The ground has always been thoroughly hoed in the spring, and 
kept free from weeds, and never manured, until last winter, when 
the ground was covered and in the spring dug in. From the result 
this season, manuring would seem to pay well, as the vines are in 
better condition than they ever were, after yielding a heavy crop. 

The vines have been trained to stakes, and the bearing wood cut 
out, after having borne one season, leaving two shoots, trained the 
same season, one to form the bearing hoop or bow, and the other cut 
to two eyes, to propagate wood for the next year ; the vine never 
having but the hoop and the two eyes left for fruit each year, grow- 
ing at the same time. 

This year the ends of the vines have been nipped, and the suckers 
taken out four different times. 

The following estimate I have made from what it has cost this 
year, and it is not far from the actual expense, although the labor 
has been done by the hands doing the other work on the farm ; and 
in making wine, extra hands were always employed. By planting 
cuttings, and preparing the ground by subsoil ploughing, when it can 
be done, the expense would be lessened. The price is what the 
wine was sold at from the press this season, and is a low estimate. 

ESTIMATE. 

2,300 Vines, at 6c., - - - $138 00 

2,300 Poles, at 2c., - - - 46 00 

1,000 " replaced, - - - 20 00 

Trenching ground and planting, - - 80 00 

Manuring last Fall, - - - 30 00 

Two months' work, each year, 9 years, - 225 00 

Extra work in making wine, - - 150 00 

Interest on investments before crop, - 15 00 

704 00 
Cr.by 4,300 gallons wine, at 75c. 3,229 50 

$2,525 50 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 31 

The expense of cultivation, previous to the first crop, is not ac- 
counted for, nor are press, casks, &c. ; but the actual expense of 
cultivating an acre of grapes, where persons are hired to attend to 
other v7ork, would amount to but very little, as but a short time is 
required to attend to clearing the vines during the season. 

September 27, 1845. WM. RESOR. 

From Mr. Resor's statement it appears that his father's vineyard 
of 2300 vines, equivalent to about an acre planted 3 feet by 6, cost 
him $284, to which add labor for two years, ^50, and it makes 
$334 ; or $34 more than the preceding estimate of $300 per acre. 
But Mr. Resor used two years old vines, which cost about $125 
more than cuttings could have been bought for, which would reduce 
his acre, had he used cuttings, to $209, when first in bearing. 

It might be fair to range the cost of vineyards in trenched ground, 
at $200 to $350 per acre — depending on the economy and good 
management of the proprietor, and the situation of the vineyard. 

Dr. Mosher, one of our most intelligent practical horticulturists, 
estimates the cost of trenching two feet deep at $80 to $125 per 
acre, according to the nature of the ground. 

"On the banks of the Ohio, two miles below our city, I yesterday 
saw some Germans at work, trenching, banking, and walling one of 
the most steep, rugged, and stony hills in the county. To have 
hired the work done by the day, would have cost from $300 to ,'f^400 
per acre. When completed, it will be a lovely spot. The cost to 
them is a trifle, for the work is done during the winter, when they 
have no employment. They raise their own hominy and sour crout. 
And it will not be a serious loss if they occasionally partake of a 
quarter of lamb, as they can buy it at 10 or 12 cents per quarter." 

COST OF ATTENDING A VINEYARD. 

To the proprietor or the tenant who is his own vine-dresser, this 
will be small, especially if he has a family that can assist him ; but 
to those who have to hire every hand, the following statement will 
be found pretty accurate. For a vineyard of six acres — 

Vine-dresser per year, and board himself, - - $240 

Hands to assist in pruning, say, . - - - 25 

" " " in spring culture, . - - - 40 

" " " in summer culture, . . - 55 

Or S60 per acre, S360 
If the cuttings can be sold at $2 to $2,50 per thousand, it will 
reduce this about $100. 

The cost of replacing stakes, repairing avenues or benches, and 
manuring every third year, may be offset against the cuttings. 

Mr. Yeatman, who keeps an account of his vineyard expendi- 
tures, concurs in the accuracy of this estimate. 



32 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

COST OF MAKING THE WINE. 

This will again depend on the force that the family can turn into 
the vineyard. But when every thing has to be done by hired labor, 
the writer can state from experience, that gathering the grapes, and 
pressing them, and filling the juice into casks, ready for fermenta- 
tion, will cost, for an average crop, $25 to $30 per acre. 

Mr. Longworth remarks: — "The cultivation of the grape for 
wine will be profitable where persons do their own work. 

" It is seldom that any farming pays well where there is much 
hiring of hands. Our German emigrants can cultivate the grape to 
most profit, for the greater part of the work in the vineyard is per- 
formed by their wives and daughters, without interfering with house- 
hold affairs. A greater profit would accrue to a man of observation 
and skill, who would devote much time to the subject, be certain to 
have clean casks, gather his grapes at the proper moment, use great 
care in picking, selecting, and pressing, and a clean press, a cool 
cellar, care and skill in the fermentation, racking at the proper time, 
and always keeping the casks full, never to bottle it till four or five 
years of age, and never to sell any wine with his own name, in sea- 
sons when the wine is not of the best quality." 

PROBABLE PRODUCT PER ACRE. 

This of course will vary with the season, and with the number of 
vines to the acre. 

At the distance of 3 by 6 ft. 2420 vines are planted in an acre They 
will yield in fair seasons 300 to 400 gallons, in very good years, 
more. A probable average for 8 or 10 years, with but little rot, 
would be about 250 gallons — and with a reasonable allowance for rot, 
frosts, &c., 200 gallons might be expected as a fair average per acre 
for a series of years. This is also Mr. Longworth's opinion. But 
even then, bad seasons must not be too frequent, or the average will 
be still further reduced. In the report of Dr. Flagg, May 1846, 
he makes the average yield per acre, for 1845, about 200 gallons, 
and the vineyards suffered much from the frost and the rot that year. 

The Doctor says: — "There are in this county 83 vineyards, con- 
taining 247f acres ; 114- being in bearing, from which 23,219 gal- 
lons of wine were made last year. Many of the vineyards bore for 
the first time last year, and more than one-half of the crop was cut off" 
by the frost and rot." The Doctor estimated the average yield for 
five years in succession, with proper care and attention, at 400 to 450 
gallons per acre — but this is entirely too large. 

In Mr. Resor's statistics, it will be observed that in nine succes- 
sive years, after his father's vineyard commenced bearing, viz : from 
1837 to 1845 inclusive, it yielded on an average, about 480 gallons 
to the acre, each year. This vineyard, however, was small, very fa- 
vorably situated, and carefully attended, under the supervision of a 
judicious and careful proprietor, and the product, should by no means 
be assumed as a general average for the county. 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 33 

Mr. Yeatman fixes the average higher, but judges from his own 
vineyard which is very favorably situated, carefully attended, and 
contains a little over 3000 vines to the acre. The general average 
per acre would be about 2,400. 

A bushel of grapes on the stem will yield 3 to 3|- gallons of juice — 
some have produced 4 — but this is rare. In measuring, the bushel is 
*' heaped," or liberally rounded on the top, woi strict measure. 

Paper calculations of profits are often deceptive, and sometimes 
mislead those who are not accustomed to think and act from their 
own judgment ; but for the sake of condensing the forgoing estimates, 
the following is given as a 

RECAPITULATION. 

Cost of a vineyard per acre, say $250, interest per annum - - $15 00 

Cost of attending per acre, _.._... 60 00 

Cost of making the wine, - 25 00 

$100 00 
Probable average annual product — 200 gallons of wine at, say, $1 00 $200 00 

Supposed profit per acre, -------- $100 00 

But should the wine only bring 75 cts. per gallon, it would still 
leave a profit of $50 per acre, which is large enough and more likely 
to be the sum realized. 

It will be observed that no allowance is made in the above calcu- 
lations for interest in the cost of the press, or the vessels and casks 
used in making and fermenting the wine. The press will cost $60 
to $150, and express 160 to 300 gallons per day; the vessels ,'§10 
to ,§15 ; and the casks, 4 to 8 cts. per gallon, as to size and quality. 
The other estimates, however, are made liberal enough to cover all 
this. 

The loss in quantity in making the wine, by fermentation, lees in 
racking, and by evaporation, will be about ten per cent. 

SALE OF THE WINE. 

Here the cultivator is at a loss, and will be, until wine-houses are 
established in the city, for the express purpose of purchasing the 
product of our vineyards, and preparing it for market, for consump- 
tion at home and elsewhere. 

Mr. LoNGwoRTH justly observes, that " those who commence 
this business, and conduct it properly, will make fortunes by it. 
For that the grape culture will eventually succeed and be profitable, 
and the wine gradually grow into public favor, there can no longer 
be a doubt. 

" Thus far our wine has met with a ready sale in our own city, 
but with the contemplated extension of the grape culture in this 
vicinity, we shall soon be compelled to look abroad for a market." 

Suitable cellars are required for the purpose, and in this Mr. 
LoNGwoRTH, Mr. Yeatman, and Mr. Rehfuss, have set laudable 
5 



34 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

examples. Their cellars are large, deep, and admirably adapted to 
keep and ripen the wine. This is the important matter with light 
wines; care and a cool cellar are required, until they are sufficiently 
ripened, to prevent acidity by exposure to the air. Every analysis 
made, proves our native wine to be 3 to 4 per cent, stronger than the 
same class of foreign importation. 

" Before the cultivation of the vine can be carried on extensively 
and profitably, we must have a sure market for the wine as it comes 
from the press ; so that vine-dressers can sell their wine as readily 
as the farmer his wheat. At present it is mostly sold to our German 
population, at fair prices. Many, who are commencing vineyards, 
without any knowledge on the subject, depending entirely upon 
others for their success, may have cause to regret it when too late. 
In commencing the cultivation of the vine, persons should consider 
the absolute necessity of a certain market for the wine as it comes 
from, the press, and also of producing a quality of Avine that will 
repay for four or five years of anxious labor and great expense. I 
began the investigation of the subject of making American wine 
twelve years since ; and, after having satisfied myself of its prac- 
ticability, my great anxiety has been to secure a ready market for 
the wine. The farmer who grows wheat, must live where he can 
readily send it to market, if he expects to realize a fair compensa- 
tion ; so the cultivators of the vine must depend upon the wine-mer- 
chant to purchase their wine. It is as much the business of the 
latter to prepare it for market, as it is of the miller to grind the 
wheat. The cultivation of the vine, with its entire management, 
until he turns out the pure juice of the grape, belongs to the vine- 
dresser, and the mixing and preparing it for market to the wine 
merchant, the latter being a distinct and separate business." — Dr. 
Flagg^s Report. 

In a Report to the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, Mr. Long- 
worth, in 1846, says : — " In the hope ofinciting other Germans 'to go 
and do likewise,' I will state the result of one of my vineyards this sea- 
son. Sixteen years since I bought an unusually broken piece of ground 
on Boldface creek, four miles from the city. The soil is rich, but 
abounds in stone. I had a tenant on it four years, who was bound to 
plant a vineyard. At the end of four years nothing was done. I 
tried a second, and after three years, found no grapes. I then gave 
a contract to a German, (M. Duferber) who had a wife, daughter, 
and three stout boys. I gave him a hard bargain. I required him 
to trench and wall with stone, six acres for grapes, in three years, 
and nine acres in five years. He was also to plant out a peach orch- 
ard, and tend an apple orchard I had on the place. The wine and 
proceeds of the orchards were to be equally divided. I carefully 
avoided climbing the stony hill for three years, expecting the same 
result as formerly. When I visited the hill, at the end of three 
years, I found the six acres handsomely trenched and walled, and 
set with grapes. There are now nine acres in grapes. The ten- 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 35 



ant complained this year, of the rot in his vineyard. I am in the 
habit of selling to the tenants, my share of the vintage, at a price 
that enables them to sell at a profit. I this season sold at 75 cts. 
per gallon at the press, for the Catawba, 62| cts. for the Cape, and 
50 cts. for the small quantity of Isabella made. He has paid me 
$661 for my share of the wine, and for his share and the profit on 
my part, has realized the sum of $1,392.50. The Catawba he sold 
at $1.25 per gallon. 

" The best crop for the extent of ground this season, was at the 
vineyard of Mr. Rentz, about four miles from town. Two acres 
yielded 1300 gallons. This is as large a yield as I have known, 
taking two acres together. To select particular spots, I have raised 
at the rate of 1470 gallons to the acre. The grapes at the vineyard 
of Mr. Rentz would have ripened better, had one-third of the bunches 
been cut off early in the season. Where the crop is very abundant, 
it requires a very favorable season to ripen the fruit well. 

" Six hundred and fifty gallons to the acre, is a large yield, and the 
season must be favorable, or they will not ripen Avell. A large crop 
is often occasioned by leaving too much bearing wood. This should 
always be avoided ; for even if the crop ripens thoroughly, too much 
of the sap is taken by the fruit, and too little left to produce good 
young wood for the next season's crop. 

" This season I have retained a part of my share of the wine, that 
I deemed the best, and have also bought a portion of the same qual- 
ity from the tenants, at an advanced price. A part of it is fermented, 
with a view of bottling it for Champagne wine. The residue will 
undergo a full fermentation, and I shall bottle it when two years old, 
pure as when it came from the press ; when it will be of the character 
of dry old Hock. Heretofore, all the wine made at my vineyards, 
has been sold to our German coflfee houses, and drank in our city. 
That which I have retained this season, is intended to be sent 
abroad, in the hope that it may lead persons in other sections of the 
country, to turn their attention to the cultivation of the grape for 
wine." 

Henry Brachmann has been selling these wines for some 
years past, and is careful to sell no wine as good, but a pure article. 
Mr. B. states, that they are steadily growing into public favor; and 
he intends building an arched cellar on purpose to keep them in 
large quantities, and of different vintages. 

NUMBER OF ACRES IN CULTIVATION. 

Some six months ago the Cincinnati Horticultural Society ap- 
pointed a committee, of which Dr. Mosher is chairman, to take a sta- 
tistical account of the vineyards in this vicinity. The Report is not yet 
completed, but the following estimate of the aggregate has been fur- 
nished, and is supposed to be nearly accurate, viz : Number of acres 
in vineyard culture within a circle of twenty miles around Cincin- 
nati, seven hundred and forty-three; under charge of 264 pro- 



36 Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

prietors and tenants. Of this, Mr. Longworth owns 122^ acres, 
cultivated by 27 tenants. 

At the low estimate of $200 per acre, for cost of planting, &c., 
this would amount to |148,600 — exclusive of the value of the land; 
and when in full bearing, produce at the most moderate estimate for 
a series of years, (of 200 gallons to the acre) 148,600 gallons of 
wine annually. But in good seasons much more. 

The NUMBER OF ACRES NOW IN BEARING is a little over 340. The 
average distance apart in the rows, is 3 by 6 feet, making 2400 
plants to the acre. 

The average product to the acre in 1848, was about 300 gallons, 
from near 280 acres then in bearing, and in 1849 (the worst year for 
rot that has yet been known,) about 100 gallons to the acre, from some 
360 acres. New vineyards produced 200 to 250 gallons — but 
the old only 50 to 100; and the crops of a few were entirely de- 
stroyed by the rot. 

Mr. A. Liggett of Ripley, Ohio, has obligingly furnished the 
statistics of the vineyards in that neighborhood. There are 73 acres 
planted, and 13 proprietors; about one-half the vines in bearing. 
The distance apart in the rows, 3 by 6 feet — the quantity of wine 
made in 1848 and 1849, about the same to the acre as in this vicini- 
ty, and the rot equally destructive. 

ANALYSIS OF SOILS. 

The following is from Dr. Flagg's Report to the Cincinnati 
Horticultural Society in 1846, on the culture of the grape in Ham- 
ilton county: 

" My friend, A. Randall, has kindly furnished me with the fol- 
lowing analysis of soils, from the Agricultural Survey of Hamilton 
county, made by Charles Whittlesey, and A. Randall, Esqrs. 

" The first analysis is made from specimens from the hills opposite 
Cincinnati, in Kentucky. 

No. I. From wild land; timber, beech, poplar, &c. 

Composition. 

Water, not expelled at 180 deg. . . . 2.00 
Oxide of iron, . . . . . .0.30 

Carbonate of lime, 2.74 

Vegetable matter, ..... 13.80 
Earthy residue, 81.16 

100.00 

No. n. From land worn down by twenty-five years' cropping. 

Composition. 

Oxide of iron, 0.31 

Carbonate of lime, 3.91 

Vegetable matter, . . . . .3.10 

Earthy residue, 91.31 

Water, 1.37 

100.00 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 37 

No. III. From the hills in Mill Creek township, Hamilton 
county; wild land; timber, sugar maple, beech, walnut, &c. 

Composition. 

Oxide of iron, 2.00 

Vegetable matter, 10.00 

Carbonate of lime, 4.00 

Sand and clay, ..... 79.00 

Water of absorption and loss, . . . 5.00 

Specific gravity, 2.29. 

100.00 

No. IV. Subsoil; color, light yellow. 

Composition. 

Carbonate of lime, 2.00 

Vegetable matter, ..... 0.30 

Oxide of iron, 0.31 

Sand and clay, ..... 94.17 

Water of absorption and loss, . . . 2.40 
Carbonate of magnesia, . . . .0.82 

Specific gravity, 2.33 

100.00 

No. V. Analysis of gray limestone from some of the hills near 
Cincinnati. 



Limestone Rock. — Composition. 

Carbonate of lime, .... 
Peroxide of iron, ,,.... 
Matter insoluble in mur. acid 
Carbonate of magnesia, 
Silex from solution, .... 
Water escaped by heat .... 
Loss, ....*.. 



90-92 
3.14 
1.80 
1.11 
0.79 
1.13 
1.11 

100.00 



From the above analysis, it appears that our soils contain, includ- 
ing sub-soils, from 3 to 4 per cent, of carbonate of lime, and the 
rocks from 80 to 90. 



Note. — That the rot, or a similar disease of the grape, existed 
in the earliest ages, may be inferred from the following passage in 
Malachi iii. v. 11. " Neither shall the vine cast her fruit before 
the time, in the field." 



APPENDIX. 



MANUFACTURE OF WINE. 

To the Wine Committee'of the Horticultural Society, Cincinnati: 

Gentlemen: — Each year's experience proves, that too little neatness and care 
are generally observed in gathering and selecting the fruit, in pressing out the 
juice, and having clean, pure casks, and a cool cellar. After racking in the spring, 
a cool cellar is indispensable, and few if any of our common cellars, are cool 
enough. They are too much afiected by the outward air, and all jarring from the 
passage of wagons, or other causes, is injurious. The casks, after racking in the 
spring, should be always kept full and aii-tight. We especially err in gathering 
our grapes too soon. We should never do this until they have reached their utmost 
maturity, unless they should be seized by the rot. 

I formerly supposed, (being influenced by the opinion of foreign writers,) that 
every object could be obtained by the addition of good sugar. Experience convin- 
ces me of the contrary. Sugar will be converted into alcohol, and give strength to 
the wine. But it will not give the same richness of aroma and flavor as the fruit, so 
ripe as to require no sugar. 

In some parts of Europe, to give richness to their wines, they gather their fruit 
and partially dry them before pressing, to carry off" the watery particles from the 
fruit. This wine sells at a high price. Before gathering the fruit, its richness should 
be ascertained, as its color is no certain indication. This richness, when the matu- 
rity is the same, will vary in diflerent varieties. To test its maturity, press out a 
tumbler full of must, and if you have no saccharometer, put in it a fresh laid hen's 
egg. If of proper maturity, the egg will then rise the size of a quarter of a dollar 
above the juice. If not rich, it will sink. The Catawba, should in favorable sea- 
sons, weigh from 90 to 97 degrees, by our saccharometers. 

Many use fresh brandy pipes, to put their must or wines in. They are destruc- 
tive to the aroma and flavor of the wine. Alcohol should never be added, unless 
the wine be too weak to keep, and when this is done, it should be distilled from the 
same kind of wine. If not, you injure its aroma and flavor. Spirit is never neces- 
sary, when the fruit is matured, unless it be in a hot climate. Then it seems to be 
indispensable, as the following hot season brings on the acetous fermentation. An 
intelligent gentleman of South Carolina, Mr. Guignard, and another friend, both 
wrote to me to this effect. So much so does the value of the wine depend on the 
maturity of the fruit, and great neatness in manufacture, that in buying this winter 
from a person in the vicinity of Louisville, I paid him for his new wine, three times 
the same that I paid him for his wine made in the -year 1848. WTien that was 
made, he acknowledged he was not aware of the great importance of having his 
fruit fully matured, and the great care necessary^in separating green, decayed, and 
rotten grapes, and neatness in manufacture. The only object in buying his wine 
of 1848, was to distil it into brandy. One great advantage that our native wine 
will have, is its being the pure juice of the grape. In Europe, total changes are 
wrought in the wines in the merchants' wine cellars. And we are so much the 
creatures of habit, that for many years we gave a preference to those wines of Ma- 
deira, that had the strong foetid flavor which they derived from the old goat skins 
in which the must was carried from the mountains, on mules, to the cellars of the 
wine merchants at Funchal. 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 39 

I yesterday had wines offered me for sale, when one of the persons made an ob- 
servation, that revived recollections of a few years past. The wine of one of the 
persons was of fair quality, and he offered it to me at little more than half the price 
fixed by the other. Yet such was the quality of the 400 gallons of the latter per- 
son, that even a Jerseyman could not try to buy cheaper, and I promptly complied 
with his terms. Better Catawba wine I have never seen. I enquired if his grapes 
rotted the past season. He replied not, and that the rot in the vineyards of all 
his neighbors had been severe. I observed, yours must be a sandy soil, or more 
porous than your neighbors. He replied, a stiff sub-soil of clay, the same as his 
neighbors. That he could give but one cause for his success. That before the rot 
began, his time had been so much taken up by his farm, that he neglected to hoe 
his vineyard, and it was filled with grass and weeds. Finding his not to rot, whilst 
the well-hoed vineyards of his neighbors suffered severely by the rot, he left all 
standing and had a full crop, and left his grapes until fully ripe, and when he cid 
gather them, did it from a fear of injury from frost, and thought the yield as large as 
it would have been had he gathered his grapes earlier. I recollect some years 
since, when my vineyard suffered severely from the rot, some of my lazy tenants, 
who left half their vineyards in grass and weeds, which escaped the rot, whilst the 
clean vineyards of their neighbors adjoining, and their own portion cleaned, suffer- 
ed badly from the rot, attributed their escape to their idleness in not cleaning their 
"vineyards. I was and am unwilling to believe this ; 

" But facts are chiels that wiiina ding, 
And dinua be disputed." 

I can scarcely believe this, for though I cannot fully believe the doctrine, that 
every act of an idle sinner is hateful in the eyes of his Creator, I am slow to believe 
that he holds out inducements to idleness. His long forbearance and mercy to 
idle sinners, compels me to believe He shows more mercy to them, and views their 
transgressions with more lenity, and makes more allowance for their bumps, natural 
propensities, education, and examples, than their more fortunate and perfect fellow 
mortals. But I would still call the attention of vine-dressers to the subject as worthy 
of note. I believe each year's experience confirms the opinion, that a sandy or 
porous soil suffers but little from the rot. A thorough draining, in our sub-soils of 
clay, may produce the same effect. 

N. LONGWORTH. 

Cincinnati, Fehruary dih, 1850. 



COMMUNICATION FROM N. LONGWORTH, 

Read October 21st, 1848, and ordered to be ap'pended to the Report of the 
Committee on Fruits. 

TO THE CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 

Gentlemen: I objected to the Report of our Fruit Committee, in giving, as 
the cause of the rot in our Grapes, " their location being in confined situations, 
not fully exposed to the air, and their proximity to orchards or woods." My 
experience is the reverse, as regards a full exposure to the air, though I do not 
consider that the location as to air, either causes or prevents the rot. 

Most of my vineyards at Tusculum, are on a high hill, and on its sides, fully 
exposed to the sun and air, and facing east, west, north, and south, with no tall 
trees in the vicinity. Yet in all these vineyards the rot has prevailed, and this 
season two-thirds of the crop was lost. The sub-soil is a stiff clay; and to 
this 1 chiefly attribute the rot. Among my vines near the foot of the hill, 
where the ground was more porous, there was less rot; and in the bottom, or 
near it, where the rain immediately sank deep in the earth, there was no rot. 
And this I have found to be the case at other vineyards. Where the sub-soil 
was a compact clay, the rot prevailed. Where the sub-soil was mixed with 
sand or gravel, or where it was porous, there was no rot. 



40 Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

I have for the past five years believed that the land in Kentucky, on the 
opposite side of the Ohio, would he preferable for the grape culture, to our 
own. The soil on that side of the river is in many situations sandy, and the 
rain passes freely through it. The consequence is, they supply our market with 
strawberries a week earlier than we can raise them on our side of the river; 
and most, if not all their vineyards are planted in soil of this character; and 
I have heard of no serious loss by the rot on the Kentucky side. On enquiry 
of our intelligent Germans, I find their experience coincides with mine. In 
their vineyards, the rot injured them the least where the ground was porous, or 
the water, from the declivity of the ground, passes oft' speedily; or if the sub- 
soil was a clay, and it was mixed with stone, which caused the water to sink 
speedily. One of my vineyards at Tusculum suffered but little from the rot, 
and this was on land where the sub-soil was a stiff" damp clay, and near to the 
forest. The German who cultivates it is a perfect "swoab," a very ignorant 
man. He however was able to give the reason for his escape from the rot. He 
" prepared his ground, and planted his grapes just so as he did in Germany." 
His vineyard is on the top and sides of a high hill, descending both to the north 
and south. He trenched his ground, throwing up the earth from each side, making 
beds fifteen feet wide, with deep trenches on each side, and the trenches having a 
quick descent for water down the hill, north and south. On these ridges he 
planted three rows of grapes. The consequence was, that no water lay on the 
surface, or had time to saturate the clay beneath, but speedily passed into the 
trenches, and from them rapidly down the hill. On enquiry, I learnt the part 
of Germany he came from had a sub-soil of stiff' clay, in consequence of which 
all their vineyards were graded in like manner. Nine-tenths of our " swoabs," 
in all their business and pursuits in life, must do it "just so as they did it 
in Germany," without any change for soil or climate ; and the result is not 
always as favorable as it was with my tenant. 

But I would not be understood as saying, that other causes may not also 
operate more or less in causing the rot. One reason for believing that other 
causes may operate is, that previous to the last six or eight years, we had much 
less of the rot, yet our soil was then the same, and our rains as frequent and 
heavy. But the rot should not discourage us. After losing two-thirds of their 
crops, my tenants, the past season, made upwards of nine thousand gallons of 
wine, and most vineyards escaped much better than mine, and many had no rot 
whatever. 

In Germany, our vine-dressers assure us, the crop is not more certain than 
with us, though they are but little troubled with the rot. Their seasons are 
much shorter than ours, and their crops are often destroyed by their early frosts. 
My wine cooper informs me that before he left France, they had lost four crops 
in succession, and many of the poor, owning small vineyards, had cut them 
up and planted vegetables in their place. I am informed by intelligent Ger- 
mans, that the same would be done in Germany, if the poor vine-dressers were 
allowed to do it. But the vine-dressers, both of Germany and Spain, have a 
greater evil to contend with. In a season when the yield is abundant, so low 
is the price of wine in Germany, that if you will take two empty casks to the 
press, you will be allowed to carry away one of them filled from the press. 
In Spain the evil is still greater. Mr. Samuel E. Foote, who was many years 
purchasing wine in Spain, informs me that he paid the cooper $13 for wine 
pipes, and the vine-dresser $5 for filling them. 

Mr. Rehfuss recently imported from Germany the instruments used there for 
testing the saccharine quality of the must, and the strength of the wine when 
fully fermented. The result surprised me. Our must this season ranged from 
80 to 101 degrees: I am informed by intelligent German vine-dressers and 
wine coopers, that in Germany it ranges from 70 to 90. Many are under the 
impression that the grape further south possesses more of the saccharine prin- 
ciple than it does with us. I believe this is never the case; and if it is, it is 
more than counterbalanced by their vintage coming on in the heat of summer, 
and the grape possessing a larger portion of the fermenting principle. Very 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 41 

few, if any of our wine coopers now add sugar to the must ; yet our wines, in 
tight casks and cool cellars, keep sound for years, without any addition. But 
the casks should be kept full, to guard against accident. 

I corresponded for several years with Mr. McCall, who cultivated the grape 
for wine, near Dublin, Georgia. He informed me that he was in the constant 
habit of adding from 2 to 2^ lbs. of sugar to the gallon of must, of the 
Schuylkill Muscadell, (Cape) and Catawba grape ; and frequently found it 
insufficient to prevent his wine from running into the acetous fermentation. I 
know that Mr. Herbemont, of Columbia, South Carolina, was in the habit of 
adding as much sugar to his must; yet when his wine was offered for sale at 
public auction soon after his death, most of it was turned to vinegar, or 
undergoing the acetous fermentation. 

The pure dry wines of Germany weigh from four to seven degrees in general. 
The wines of Madeira weigh from twenty to twenty-five. This is occasioned 
by the quantity of brandy added. In their hot climate, I believe it is necessary, 
to prevent the acetous fermentation. If not, they would not add any brandy, 
or not so large a quantity. 

N. LONGWORTH. 



NATIVE GRAPES. 

To the Editors of the Cincinnati Gazette : 

Messrs. Editors : I requested last spring, in your paper, that persons having 
any new variety of the native grape, would do me the favor to forward me cut- 
tings, that I might test their quality both for the table, and for wine. 

The communication was extensively re-published in most parts of the Union, 
and the result was that twenty-four varieties were sent me in February and March 
last. I grafted them, and also planted cuttings. Most of the grafts are now in 
fruit, and from the wood and leaf, about one-fourth of them promise to be of supe- 
rior quality. All of them are new in this vicinity, but two, the Olmstead, and 
Minor's Seedling. Both of these are Fox grapes. The fruit of the first, I have 
not seen ; the second, is the best Fox grape that I have seen. The pulp is unusually 
soft, for that family, and the grape remarkably sweet, though it does not contain as 
much saccharine matter as some grapes less sweet to the taste. It is not a great 
bearer, though it bears uncommonly well for a grape of that class. 

The Fox grape may never be valuable for a wine grape, except to mix with 
others, to give aroma and flavor. I received cuttings of several varieties of Fox 
grapes, and the stem and leaf of most of them are so strongly Fox, that they can- 
not be valuable. In my boyhood, I thought this grape the most delicious of all 
fruits, and found some that bore a fair crop. This vine Is easily distinguished from 
all others. The leaf is like leather — thick, and of a white color on the under side, 
and downy, and the new wood covered with a hairy down, generally of a reddish 
cast. It Is a great objection to it, that the fruit drops on the ground as soon as it 
is ripe. I rank the common class as about equal to the Black Scuppernong of 
North Carolina, (the Muscadine of the Mississippi,) from which, it appears, a supe- 
rior wine is made In North Carolina, by putting three pounds of sugar to the gallon, 
and sold for $4 per gallon, and from two thousand to three thousand gallons are 
raised on an acre. Further, a Horticulturist, there, tells us, he also makes wine 
from the green grape; the same person who raises so large a quantity, Mr. Alves, 
of Kentucky, (formerly of North Carolina,) tells me they put from one-fourth to 
one-third of spirits to the gallon, and sell the wine from 75 cents to $1 per gallon ; 
a wide difference in price "this. The North Carolina Horticulturist seems learned 
in the manufacture of Foreign Wines, as he tells us that one-third of Brandy is 
added to Port, Malmsey, and Madeira Wines. This Avill be news indeed to the 
European Wine Merchants. 

The Black Scuppernong bears from one to four berries on a bunch, and would, 
in times of war, if lead be scarce, be as valuable, even when fully ripe, as the Fox 
grape, for bullets. The White Scuppernong, also has a verv small bunch, and is 
6 



42 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 



a better grape than the Black. But the skin is thick, and the pulp hard ; it will 
never be valuable as a wine grape, unless to give to other must, aroma and flavor. 

Our vineyards may have produced 800 and possibly 1000 gallons on an acre, 
but no vineyard has averaged 300 gallons for ten years. I believe ground, with a 
mixture of sand, or such as will freely let the rains sink, will be less subject to rot, 
and average double the crop produced, whei'e the sub-soil is a stiff clay. 

I shall be gratified to receive letters from all persons having new varieties of 
hardy grapes in their vicinity, describing the character of the wood and leaf, color, 
size, and quality of the fruit, &e. After importing Foreign grapes for thirty years, 
from all latitudes, I have never found one worthy of cultivation in open air, nor 
do we require them. We have native grapes of superior quality, both for the 
table and for wine ; and by raising seedlings from our best natives, and from a 
cross between them and the best foreign, we can greatly improve them. We have 
neglected our native grapes. 

Forty-five years since, I heard of a superior grape in the garden of Mr. Zane, 
of Wheeling, found by him in a wild state on Wheeling Island. I sent for cut- 
tings, and found the grape of no value. I heard of a person m Kentucky, who 
had it, and that it proved of good quality I obtained cuttings, and it proved to 
be the Vevay, or Cape (Schuylkill Muscadell) grape. I am now satisfied that 
neither was the Zane grape. I, this spring, had cuttings sent me, from a vine got 
of Mr. Zaxe, some thirty years since, and Avhich has never got out of the neighbor- 
hood, and which I doubt not will prove of superior quality. 

A native grape, of different aroma and flavor, and in all respects equal to the 
Catawba, would be worth millions of dollars to the nation. If my correspondents 
do not err, some of the kinds sent me are superior. The origin of the Catawba 
is in doubt. Major Adlum first brought it into notice, having found it some 
twenty-five years since, in the garden of a German, near Washington city. 

I received, recently, an interesting letter from Mr. Alves, of Henderson, Ken- 
tucky. He was born in North Carolina, and says he heard of the Catawba grape, 
in the upper part of North Carolina, forty years ago, and that it was discovered 
near the Catawba river, from which it derived its name. A grape, precisely the 
same, is said to have been discovered in a wild state, a few years since, in Pennsyl- 
vania. I have one from the South West, of the same color, aroma, and flavor, 
but smaller, and the vine of slow growth, and a poor bearer; and one bearing 
much larger fruit, of precisely the same character, but inferior. I discovered it 
in the centre of my vineyards, and know not how it came there. 

My oldest vine-dresser, Father Ammex, has gone the way of all flesh, and I 
regret his end. He was a worthy old man. Some twelve years since, he lost his 
wife, and deeply regretted her loss. He assured me, with tears in his eyes, " she 
was just so good in the vineyard as one man, and he might just so well have lost 
his horse." "He got a second wife, but she was of hasty temper, and gave the old 
man as good as he sent. Finally, she told him, if he would give her five dollars, 
she would leave him, and never see him more. " Give you five dollars !" said the 
old man: "I will do no such thing; but if you go and never come back, I will 
give you ten dollars." The money was paid, and the old man was relieved of that 
trouble ; but one that he deemed greater came. I have heretofore said, that after 
being my tenant ten years, he was ruined by selling his share of the crop for eight 
hundred dollars. He cleared out ; went to the north part of the State ; bought 
land, and planted a vineyard. The location was too far north. His vines were 
killed, and he came back a poor man, and began a ne^v vineyard on a farm of 
mine, adjoining his old one, on which his son-in-law has resided since he left it 
This year his vineyard came into bearing, and the old man's heart rejoiced to 
think "that he should again be able to sit under the shade of his favorite tree, and 
enliven his heart with wine of his own making. But, alas ! the rot came, and 
blasted his prospects. He became dispirited ; which the Cholera discovering, a 
few days since, seized his victim. lie was taken to the house of his son-in-law, 
(for he lived alone, and I could not prevail on him to try a Frau for the third 
lime,) when they urged him to take medicine, but he refused. He was told if he 
did not, in a few hours he must die. "What I care?" said the old man, " I take 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 43 



none. What I want to live for ? My grapes all rotten." A few hours, and he 
was no more. Peace to his ashes ! 

N. LONGWORTH. 
Cincinnati, July 16, 1849. 



MANUFACTURE OF NATIVE WINE. 

Gentlemen of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society. 

The season for our vintage is approaching, and the quality of the wine depends 
mainly on the period of gathcring_ the grapes, and the care and neatness exercised 
in the manufacture, and the selection of the casks: skill has little to do with it. To 
make good butter, is apparently one of the most simple employments ; yet not one 
dairy woman in ten makes butter of the first quality; whilst the best commands 25 
cents per lb., the poorest has a dull sale at half price. 

The first error is gathering the grapes too soon. This season has been a severe 
one on our grape crop, jet from the increased number of vineyards now in bear- 
ing, I believe the vintage will be greater this season than last.' A late frost was 
very destructive in our vineyards, and the summer rot more so. From the first 
vines often recover. One person informed me the frost killed all the youn"- shoots' 
and his vine-dresser cleared out in despair, but that the dormant shoots °put out 
with great vigor, and from one acre and one-third he expected to make 1,600 gal- 
lons of wine. If this prove true, the frost has to him been a blessin"- ; for I have 
never yet known 1,000 gallons to be made from an acre. 

If we want large crops, we must go to the fertile lands of North Carolina, where 
from their famous Scuppcrnong, they make from 2,000 to 3,000 gallons per acre. 
This is truly miraculous. I have known a bunch of our Catawba grape, to have 
150 berries, and weigh 24 ozs. On the Scuppernong, the yield "is from 2 to 8 
berries. The price is in proportion. We add no sugar, and sell our Avine from 
!$1 to $1.25 per gallon. They add 3 lbs. of sugar to the gallon, and, strano-e to 
tell, make a Hock wine (which is a hard, dry wine,) and sell it for $4 per gallon. 

Injurious as we found the; frost, the rot has been more destructive. But the 
experience of this year will confirm the opinion, that the rot is occasioned by a 
stiff sub-soil of clay, through which the water cannot pass freely. In our sandy 
soils, there has been but little rot ; and in many, none. On our rich, deep-soiled 
bottoms, the rot has been less than on our side hills. The first error we commit 
is gathering our grapes too soon, and before the saccharine principle is fully devel- 
oped. Last season, some of the must of Mr. Ehefuss, weighed 101, whilst that 
from some other vineyards, weighed from 65 to 80 only. The best, averao-e about; 
95. In Germany , superintendants have this subject in charge, in the several dis- 
tricts, and they name the day on which the vintage is to commence, I presume 
this Is to prevent ignorant vine-dressers from gathering their grapes too soon as 
they are anxious to save a loss in (juantity. This creates as great an evil, as it is 
intended to remedy. All vineyards do not mature their ii-uit at the same time • 
and often in the same neighborhood one vineyard will mature its fruit a week 
earlier than another. The ripest bunches only should be picked at the first 
vintage ; and all rotten, defective, and green grapes, carefully picked out. The 
grapes should not be gathered till the dew is off. A second picking should be 
made some 8 or 10 days later, when with great care in picking out rotten, decayed, 
and green berries, wine equal to the first may be made. The rejected grapes' 
from both pickings, will make a common wine, but will be improved by adding 8 
or 10 ozs. of sugar to the gallon of must. 

The press and casks should be clean. Even fresh Brandy and Madeira Wine 
casks should be carefully cleansed, to take out all the taste of those liquors. The 
casks placed in a cool place, where there is a circulation of fresh air, for fermen- 
tation ; the bung being left out after the fermentation commences, till it abates 
when the bung should be put in tight, and a spile hole made, and air given from 



44 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 



it, two or three times per day, and as soon as it can be done safely, all air excluded 
till the wine is clear, when it should be racked off. I would sooner pay 75 cents 
per gallon for must weighing 95, than 5 cenis for one weighing 75. 

In the manufacture of wine in Europe, in times past, the grapes were always 
mashed with the feet, before pressing, and in many places, the same practice still 
continues. We have been inclined to attribute this practice to their ignorance, 
and want of cleanliness. I beheve, however, that, like many other old customs, 
we now treat with ridicule, the practice was important to the manufacture of good 
Avine. My attention was first drawn to the subject by Mr. Wm. Hatch, who 
stated, that in manufacturing wine from the Catawba grape, where pressed with 
little or no mashing, the wine contained but little of the muscadine aroma and 
flavor. On enquiring of my manufacturer of sparkling Catawba, I learn that the 
same. opinion prevails in the wine countries of Europe, and in consequence the 
machine for mashing the grape is but little used in France. In the manufacture 
of Catawba wine, it is a great object fully to develope its muscadine flavor, as it 
is always retained in the wine after the most perfect fermentation. I would therefore 
recommend, even where they pass through a machine, that they be further mashed 
by pounding, using care not to crack the seed, or much bruise the stalks. By mash- 
ing, the pink color is also in part brought out. The muscadine flavor adds greatly to 
value of the wine, and where not fully developed, will lead to the conclusion that 
the wine is not pure. Where it exists in its full strength, it will always be evidence 
of the purity of the Avine, as the aroma and flavor are peculiar, and cannot be success- 
fully imitated. The machine in use for mashing grapes, does not separate the stems 
from the mashed berries. I would draw the attention of our ingenious mechanics, 
to induce them to add such an addition to the present machine. 

Respectfully, 

Sept. 14, 1849. N. LONGWORTH. 



APPARATUS FOR MASHING GRAPES. 

Latonia, February 28, 1850. 
R. BUCHANAN, Esq. 

Dear Sir : — In a letter addressed to the Horticultural Society of this City, by 
Mr. LoNGWORTH, some time last Fall, he expressed the opinion that two essential 
requisites were yet needed, to complete the process of making wine from the 
Catawba grape ; one of these was a method by Avhich the grape could be separated 
from the stem, and the other was to impart the j^eculiar perfume or aroma of the 
fruit to the wine. 

Before I had seen Mr. Loxgworth's letter, my father had resolved to adopt 
a method for accomplishing both of these objects, by a very simple process, which 
has been pursued by our family and others, in the vicinity of Tours, (in France,) 
for several generations past, in the manufacture of wine. The method is exceed- 
ingly simple, and is probably the only one that can be applied successfully to a large 
crop. Various attempts have been made in this vicinity to accomplish the desired 
object, but they have invariably failed ; the only sure method it being supposed, 
was, to pick the fruit from the stems by hand : this tedious process could of course 
only be adopted with small quantities of grapes. My fathei-'s method is remarkable 
for its rapidity, and the perfect manner in which the grape is separated from the 
stem ; the unusual excellence of our wine made by this process the last season, 
bearing ample testimony to the usefulness of the method. 

There are many who think it not only a matter of indifference whether tlie fruit 
is pressed with the stem or not, but some venture to assume that the asti-ingent 
principle contained in the stem, is essential to the preservation of the wine. From 
all these views, I dissent, and take the ground that nothing hut the perfectly ripe 
grape itself should he subjected to pressure ; and our Wine Manufacturers will, I 
predict, find this opinion correct after they have had sufficient time to test it. 

The usefulness of the apparatus alluded to, depends more upon the method of 
using it, than upon the article itself, — it being mainly a manual process facilitated 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 45 



bj the use of a screen of v/ire, so arranged that siifScient space is allowed for the 
operalorto extend his arms freely, and Avith the aid of hand pieces, the grapes are 
made to pass with great rapidity through the screen, entirely separated from the 
stem. It is dithcult to describe the process on paper; in fact it can only be 
understood practically by witnessing the operation. 

The crushing and attrition of/ the grape by this method are such as to bruise and 
rub the skin of the fruit, without breaking the seed, and thus impart the aroma to 
the wine. 

In addition to the stemming process, we pass all our grapes through the " rol- 
lers," in a small wooden mill, before pressing. 

Respectfully yours, 

J. A. CORNEAU. 



FERMENTING THE GRAPE ON THE SKINS. 

John Williamson, a successful cultivator of the wine, who resides near 
New Richmond, O. has tried the experiment for the last two years, of letting his 
grapes ferment on the skins, shghtly, after being mashed, and before pressing. 
He allows them to stand in large open hogsheads, for 24 to 30 hours, or, until 
they begin to ferment, and the grapes rise to the surface. They are then pressed. 
Too much fermentation in iliis state would be injurious, and give a bitter, astrin- 
gent taste to the wine ; but a slight fermentation adds to the color and aroma. 

Mr. Williamson's wine enjoys a high reputation where known, and readily 
commands $1.25 per gallon, whenever it is offered for sale. 



VINEYARDS ABOUT CINCINNATI. 

To the Editors of the Cincinnati Gazette : 

Gentlemen : — I was yesterday at some of the vineyards on the Ohio, below 
the city, and among others at the vineyard of Mr. Duhme, who I understand 
resides in the city. The location is a good one, with a favorable soil, and is I 
believe the largest vineyard in the State. It requires his personal attention. 
The grapes ripen badly, and a large portion of them cannot ripen at all. 

In some parts of Europe, where their summers are cool, they find it neces- 
sary to shorten the leading branches intended to produce the next year's crop, 
and thin out the leaves, and head in the short branches, and fully expose the 
fruit to the sun and air, to ensure its ripening. This method in our hot climate 
is often highly injurious to the plant, and destructive to the fruit. If the head- 
ing in of the leading shoots be done early in the season, the fruit buds of the 
following year are thrown out. As an experiment, I one year, by successive 
heading, had the fruit of four successive years on the plant at the same time, 
and the fall being favorable, the second crop ripened its fruit. Where the fruit 
branches are frequently topped, and the wood becomes ripe, the sap ceases to flow, 
and the fruit cannot ripen. This is the case at the vineyard of Mr. Duhme. In 
our hot climate no more lateral branches should be taken from the main shoots 
intended for next year's fruit, than to give them the necessary length. The fruit 
branches should be topped when in blossom, beyond the second eye from the 
last blossom, and after that allowed to grow without topping. In our cli- 
mate, to ripen the fruit, a portion of shade is necessary, for where there is grow- 
ing young wood, there is of course a full flow of sap to the fruit, without which 
it shrivels and drops oft^ 

This day I visited a German settlement on the Ohio, commencing about 12 
miles above the city, and extending about 4 miles. The hill commences close 
to the river, and rises gradually ; the usual bottom land being on the opposite 



46 Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 

side of the river. The soil is porous and well calculated in my opinion for the 
cultivation of the grape, and nearly the whole of the four miles is occupied by 
vineyards, and there are also some on the top of the hill. Two of the vineyards 
belong to Englishmen; the owners of ^11 the others are Germans. 

Most of the vineyards in this vicinity have suffered severely from the rot, and 
some vine-dressers, expecting in the early part of the season, to make from 2000 
to 4000 gallons of wine, will not make 100^. Yet their vineyards are on the 
sides and tops of the hills, fully exposed to the sun and air. But the sub-soil 
is a stiff clay, retentive of moisture. These localities will, I fear, be always 
subject to rot, and yet the vineyards will be found more profitable than any other 
crop. To persons having a porous soil, I would recommend the cultivation of 
the Herbemont grape. It is a fine grape, both for the table and for wine, and per- 
fectly hardy. It makes wine of superior quality, similar to the Spanish Man- 
zanilla, or Mansinaella, as it is generally pronounced. This grape has a soft 
pulp, and resembles the best foreign table grapes. Lick Run, in our immediate 
vicinity, will make one of the most beautiful rural spots in the world. It will 
soon be a continuous line of vineyards. I wish some of our poets would visit 
it in May or .Tune, and give it a more beautiful and appropriate name. They may 
rack their brains for months, and not find one worthy of the scene. It is differ- 
ent on Mount Adams, which is in a double sense in connection with the 
heavens — its height and proximity to the great Telescope of Professor Mitchel. 
The highest street is called Celestial street. Commanding as the view is, the 
name surely equals it. 

N. LONGWORTH. 

P. S. I have just returned from a visit to the vineyard of Mr. Langdon, on 
the bottom of the Little Miami, eight miles above the city, in a sandy soil. 
That porous soil is not subject to the rot in grapes, is exemplified here. His 
misfortune is in fact, too large a crop of fruit, an uniisual complaint this season. 
Yet he will have a poor vintage, arising from two causes, which prevent the 
fruit from ripening. The first and least cause is, too much fruit, from leaving 
too much bearing wood. There was more than the vine could give a supply of 
sap for, in a favorable season. The second and great cause is the same as at the 
vineyard of Mr. Duhme. The fruit has no shade, few leaves, and but little 
young wood on the fruit branches, to carry sap to the grapes to ripen them. 
The wood is life, and the circulation of the sap stopped. Not one-fourth of the 
grapes will ripen jierfect, many of them shrivel and drop, and many of them 
scarcely change color. A favorable fall will aid them. 

I observed in the vineyard of Mr. Langdon, that the Catawba vine is much 
closer jointed than in our richer land, where there is a sub-soil of clay ; and one 
of my German vine-dressers assured me this is always the case. This would 
indicate an increased crop, and the change probably depends on the richness of 
the soil. An important inquiry is, will the grape in a sandy soil yield an equal 
amount of sugar? I wish our vine-dressers to direct their attention to this sub- 
ject. In some of our vineyards, they have both soils, and the question will be 
easily decided. The color of the Catawba grape is no certain evidence of its 
ripeness and richness. They are often of unusual dark color this season, yet the 
juice has one-eighth less sugar. 

N. LONGWORTH. 



VINEYARDS OF CLARK COUNTY, INDIANA. 
The following letter, from Mr. Gibson, will be found interesting: — 

MR. R. BUCHANAN : 

Dear Sir ; — Mr. A. Goodwin, my father-in-law, yesterday placed in my 
hands a letter from you of January 28th, and requested me to reply to the 
questions therein propounded, which I take great pleasure^ in doing. The 
number of acres of grapes in cultivation in our county, (Clark) is somewhere be- 



Culture of the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 47 

tween 150 and 200, and steadily on the increase. The Catawba is almost exclu- 
sively cultivated. Those who plant a few Isabellas, generally dig them up after 
a few years' trial. The objection to them is that they are much more liable to 
the rot than the Catawba. 

The distances at which the vines are planted, vary in different vineyards from 
3 by 6, to 4 by 8 feet. Mine is 8 by 8 feet; but I know of no others planted so 
widely apart. The cultivation adopted is simple and costs next to nothing. The 
land is deeply ploughed in the spring — holes dug with a spade and two or three 
slips planted in each hole — the ground is then planted in potatoes and pays for 
its culture — second year the same. Third year the vines are staked, ploughed and 
hoed once or twice. I have never known manure to be applied, and most of 
our cultivators are of opinion that the poorer the land, the better it is for the 
grape. When Mr. Goodwin first commenced the culture of the grape, he planted 
perhaps an acre in a very rich river bottom, and cultivated them with a great 
deal of care. They made enormous growth of wood and a fine show of fruit, but 
it invariably rotted. I do not believe that he ever got two barrels of grapes 
from the vineyard. It was finally dug up and destroyed. 

The grape is very subject to rot in some seasons, though hardly as much so, I 
think, as around Cincinnati ; at least ours have escaped here, when yours were 
partially destroyed. 

Vineyards planted in low valleys have generally been abandoned— the fruit is 
almost always killed by spring frosts. The average quantity of wine per acre, is 
about 200 gallons — this 1 mean for an average of difterent years. I have known 
them to rot so badly as not to produce 50 gallons. One thing I have never yet 
known — a vineyard to suffer much from the rot the fourth year — the crop is al- 
ways good. The juice is generally sold from the press at from 70 to 80 cents per 
gallon, to A'inters in Louisville, Cincinnati, and New Albany. • 

My attention was called a few years ago to a grape which has been cultivated 
here for the last forty years, and is, I think, a native. It is about the size, 
shape, and color of the Cape, but in my opinion superior to the Catawba as a 
table grape. It is a vigorous grower and entirely free from rot, but somewhat 
liable to crack when exposed to the sun. 

Charlestown, la., Feb. 26th, 1850. T. WAEE GIBSON. 



CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. 

Mr. Buchanan: — It occurs to me, that in connection with your publication 
in relation to the Grape Culture, and the Manufacture of Wine, engravings of 
the strawberry blossom, and a short description of their sexual and bearing char- 
acter, will be highly beneficial, if properly understood. Every family having 30 
feet square of ground, may have an ample supply of fruit. In our best species 
of strawberries, there are four distinct kinds as to their sexual character, and this 
character is never changed, if each kind were cultivated for a thousand years. 
The last persons to believe in this difference in the sexual character of the plant, 
are our botanists, for it is true, that the strawberry belongs to a class of plants, 
that possess both male and female organs, in the same blossoixi. But in their 
wild state, and in raising from seed, there are three kinds produced, entirely 
differing in their character. And in raising from seed, one may be found in 
many thousands of plants, distinct from the former three. Of the last descrip- 
tion, I know of but two ; the Eberlin seedling, and the Duke of Kent. One of 
of the four is perfect in the male organs, but the female organs are so defective, 
that not one blossom in one thousand will bear fruit. Another is perfect in the 
female organs, but so defective in the male organs, that it is a rare occurence for 
them to produce even a defective berry, without impregnation. 

In raising from seed, a few plants will be produced, perfect in male organs, 
and more or less perfect in the female organs, and the result is, more or less per- 
fect fruit, depending on the soil, season, and climate. The celebrated Keen's 



48 Culture op the Grape in the Ohio Valley. 



Seedling, Wilmot's Superb, and Iowa, are of this character. But neither of 
them will average one-fifth of a crop of perfect fruit. This class of plants, and 
those entirely defective in the female organs, to a casual observer, present the 
same appearance. A large portion of the blossoms prove entirely ■ barren. The 
pistillate plants, where not crowded too close, if there be those entirely male, or 
those that are hermaphrodite in their vicinity, have a perfect fruit to each blossom, 
unless killed by a late frost. These are the only kind to be depended on for a 
crop. I should impregnate them with a large fruited hermaphrodite, the Eberlin 
or Duke of Kent, I presume one having male organs, will fully impregnate 20 
or more pistillates. If not closely watched, the former will soon root all the 
latter out, as they will in the early part of the season, make ten ifew plants, 
where the female makes one. 

I would recommend to plant three beds of pistillates, then a single row of 
hermaphrodites, follow by six or eight beds of pistillates, and so continue to 
the end of the patch. I should cut off" the runners in the si-o;le rows, and not 
allow them to increase. A staminate seedling may come up ^ ^ bed of pistil- 
lates, and root most of them out of the bed, before his presence is observed. This 
and the prolific character of the staminates, has led many of our first Horticul- 
turists, and among them Mr. Downing, to believe that pistillate plants be- 
come staminate by running. 

The fourth variety in the sexual character, bears all three of the blossoms ; a 
portion perfect in the female organs, but entirely defective in the male. These 
are impregnated by both the other blossoms, and always bear perfect fruit. Others 
are hermaphrodites, perfect in the males, and a portion perfect in the female 
organs also. A part of these bear perfect berries — a part defective ones. More 
or less of the blossoms are entirely defective in the female organs, and bear no 
fruit. Neither of the two that I have seen of this character, bear large fruit. I 
deem it may be possible, from seed, to raise a plant perfect in both organs. Two 
of my tenants have raised many thousand plants, and among them three pistil- 
lates, that they think highly of. One of them has raised one, that he says has for 
two seasons, bore perfect fruit on all the blossoms, and the fruit as large as the 
Hovey's Seedling. I want faith. The present season will fully test the question. 
The blossoms seem perfect in both male and female organs. 

Cincinnati, Feb. I8th, 1850. N. LONGWORTH. 



Staminate or Male Blossom. Pistillate or Female Blossom. 





Note. — At the request of the writer, a Committee from the Horticultural So- 
ciety, composed of J. P. Foote, and Drs. Warder, Shaler, and Moshee, was 
appointed to examine this treatise, and report; a majority of the Committee met, 
and recommended its publication. The report will be made to the Society, but, 
not in time for insertion here. 

It may be objected, that the directions, relative to the vineyard culture, are 
too much condensed ; detail has been sacrificed to brevity, from a knowledge, 
that short descriptions are more likely to be read and remembered, than long 
ones. R. BUCHANAN. 



